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A Beginner's Guide To Bill Hicks
Check out clips of the 20th century's best comedian in action, and an interview with the directors of his documentary / biopic...
Fiery, ferocious and, most of all, very, very funny, Bill Hicks was a true comic original. Much aped but never bettered, he's remembered in American: The Bill Hicks Story, a documentary-cum-biopic that interweaves Hicks' life story with rare footage of the man in action, usually with fag in mouth, tumbler in hand and gob set to stun. There were none like him. He was irreverent, unrestrained and, at times, a thorn jabbing into the side of government and media alike. And no one's ever said that about Russ Abbott. We interviewed the directors of the new documentary, Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas, to get the low-down on the man and the myth that was Bill Hicks�

WORDS PHIL DE SEMLYEN

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A Beginner's Guide To Bill Hicks
I Am The Goat Boy

Bill Hicks first dalliance with stand-up came at his hometown venue, Houston's Comedy Annex, with friend and fellow eighth grader Dwight Slade. Fittingly, it took regular Great Escape-style breakouts to evade the watchful eye of his wary parents. From childhood in a leafy suburbia straight from a John Hughes movie, via the comedy circuit and into the public consciousness, thanks to a regular slot on Letterman, his death at the age of 32 deprived America of perhaps its greatest comic: a potty-mouthed prophet with the simmering rage of a thousand Christian Bales and a brain the size of Texas. He remains much loved. "There's always an instant bond with people if they know him and you know him," says Thomas.

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Your Comments
1 RE:
Posted on Wednesday May 19, 2010, 14:28 by simjamlmx
you guys are so literal, it doesnt matter that crowe is older than 32 if he's to play this, what matters is that he catches the essence of bill hicks. i reckon crowe is a good enough actor to do that. Remember the bob dylan film from a few years back, they had cate blanchet and some little black kid playing dylan. As far as bill goes, i've heard people suggest he's cynical, and can only say to that, that they are either repeating what somebody else has said OR haven't been listening properly to what bill hicks said. Read More


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