I just finished watching American: The Bill Hicks Story, the brilliant new documentary about one of the most unsung American comics ever. Hicks was a true innovator, which means he didn't have time for a plaid sweater and making rap albums on the side. He was filthy at times, antisocial, politically incorrect, and a genius. If you like Bill Maher, you'll love Hicks. If you hate Bill Maher, you'll probably still love Hicks, because he made it clear that he was a very sweet guy who loved pushing buttons.
Never safe, never "cute," he told the hard truths most of us don't want to admit but have to be mesmerized by. The doc follows his life from an ordinary kid in Alabama to a rock star in Europe, where he would rather have lived. Unfortunately, his life was cut short at 32 from Pancreatic Cancer (which if you don't know, is one of the most painful forms of Cancer a human can have, and they don't las long). He has to be taken with an entire salt lick now, since American comedy post-Seinfeld has become painfully safe. This is why we should remember him (and Sam Kinison, although he really ended up being a brilliant cartoon character before he, too, died young). Both were products of their generation, which means they will probably never be replaced. That's why we should remember them.
Hicks was hostile, but like so many forms of decent comedy today (South Park, Chris Farley and Adam Sandler come to mind), there's a core of sweetness and love that makes it OK that it's not Spongebob. The only way to deliver the truth, the real truths of this world, is to shove them in your face but let you know that it's only meant to show you something. American is full of Hicks' family and friends reminiscing about how he was absorbed in, then beat drugs and alcohol and was so brilliant in his last days (he told nobody he was dying) that it's amazing to watch.
If you think Ice Age is funny, don't dare; you'll be offended; if you want to see a truly brilliant comic who held nothing back because he was fearless, give him a try. If you can, watch his Relentless DVD first (his breakthrough performance in England), then watch the doc. There's a complation DVD with several of his shows that is breathtaking in the development it shows. Hicks was a revelation, but revelations are always hidden. The best among us are folded into level after level of offense and indignation because we want everything to be safe. Bill Hicks was never safe; he didn't have to be. He never had a cameo on Friends, but if he had, he would have beaten either Ross or Chandler to death with a shovel (or maybe both). American originals aren't really welcome, and never really have been, but America is about originals, not carbon copies and their 5 minutes of fame (Warhol was an optimist).
More than ever, this country needs more fearless artists who aren't concerned about offending people who lost their senses of humor in the "child safety" binge of the 90s. But everything he said that's potentially offensive, there are huge grains of truth (he called them "seeds" and pretended to toss them into the audience). He was a brilliant comic whose skills just weren't appreciate here; that doesn't mean he wasn't good. It means we lost him far too soon. His rants on the internet now would be crazy hilarious. Check it out; you won't regret if you still think a sense of humor means something.
This film is well worth seeing, but only if you experience Hicks at his best first.
