Bill Hicks

About

In the tradition of legendary comic minds such as Richard Pryor and George Carlin, Bill Hicks was one of America's finest and most scathing social satirists. Raised in a strict Baptist home in Texas, he turned to comedy at a young age in an effort to find an escape from the suffocating spiritual upbringing. His stand-up routines, while funny and well-constructed, often seemed to place humor in the backseat in lieu of pointed attacks on social and political hypocrisy. A proponent of mind-altering substances, Hicks was an admitted drinker, chain-smoker and cocaine addict who would also dabble in hallucinogenics. His cynical but pointed attacks on modern culture won him a devoted fan base who found his blunt honesty and nonexistent censor to be the epitome of what the stand-up comedy form should be all about. Hicks died of cancer in 1994 at the age of 32, leaving behind a legacy that has greatly inspired modern comics such as Louis C.K. and David Cross.