BILL HICKS - SANE MAN

Hey, you! You f*cking piece of sh*t that s*cks c*ck and chows on *****. No! Not you! That guy next to you! That guy that looks like he sticks peanuts up his Mum's *** before **** his Dad. Yeah. Him. Can you ask him to stop swearing please? I'm trying to watch this **** 80-minute stand-up show made in 1989 starring Bill Hickman! It's f***ing hilarious!!


Bill Hicks - Sane Man

THE STORY:

Can you guess what chubby-faced comic would have the audacity to saunter into some dingy bar in Austin, Texas, and have the balls to talk about the following subjects? (1) Travelling. (2) Reading. (3) Human Nature. (4) Smoking, Drinking, and Drugs. (5) Perverted Pop Culture. (6) Celebrity Deaths. (7) Occupations. And (8) Porn.

What? No. Of course it's not Jesus Christ. Heaven forbid. Instead, it's the one and only loudmouthed-lunatic with the mind of mirth and the diction of the devil -- Bill Hicks. Here, why don't you get off of your f*cking ass, and read some of what he has to say to his live studio audience.

• Every time I see a hijacking on the news I say 'Do it. Do it. Do it'. I understand, man. I understand that you want to go wherever you're going without delays.
• I once saw a sign on the side of the road that read 'Dirt For Sale'. My God! What a beautiful country we live in.
• This man said to me 'Your show is really good. I want you to see my wife and sister'. Yet there was only one girl standing there.
• All you non-smokers are self wining slugs. One of them came over to me whilst I was smoking and started coughing my face. I said "Thank God you don't f*cking smoke, huh? You do yourself some damage!".
• If you're smoking cigarettes through a whole in your neck, I'd think about quitting if I was you.
• I don't do drugs, but I like to thank the management for offering them to me.
• If drugs are so bad, how come Keith Richards is still alive? He outlived Jim Fix, the heath nut. Am I getting the wrong signals here?
• George Michael is a big girl. If you ladies like him, that means your a dike. Doesn't matter though. God still loves you.
• I am available for children's parties by the way, Ha!
• Elvis died because he got the bill from General Motors. "How many Cadillac's did I buy?".
• I can't get a job because of bosses. They're like naats on a camping trip.
• The sign on the hotel door says 'Do Not Disturb', not 'Come On In And See Me Jack Off'.
• It's not an 'Adult Feature' unless someone at the end of it gets covered in goo!
• John F Kennedy: Murdered. Martin Luther King: Murdered. Ghandi: Murdered. Ronald Regan: Wounded. Does the world love mediocrity of what?

Now in closing his set, Billy-boy turns into the anti-Christ himself, and then bashes the living daylights out of the current political system, Dick Clark, and someone I've forgotten the name of, before dissolving into the shadows, just as he came.  

THE REVIEW:

To be honest with you, folks, although I've seen Bill Hickman in numerous review shows and documentaries in the past, this is the first time I've actually sat down and watched one of his entire performances from start to finish.

Yeah. I'm not messing about! 'Sane Man' is the strand-up show that has busted my Bill Hicks cherry. Furthermore, because I'm feeling in a somewhat recollective mood at the moment, this gig has also compelled me to do something different with this review too.

No. Don't fret. I'm not going to compare it to 'Monkey Porn' or something. Yet instead of me researching Bill and then imparting my findings on to you, what I'm actually going to do is bullet-point my first impressions of Bill, whilst elaborating on what I thought about his material. OK. So here goes nothing. (1) Bill is funny. Naturally funny. And he carries himself in such a way that he doesn't care who knows it or not. (2) Without being too cosmetic about it, it's pretty safe to say that the 'Hickster' has a very chubby-face, and when needed, he does manage to contort it to get 'his point across' with some extra added mirth. (3) There is a sort of 'no nonsense' attitude about Bill's delivery, and I find that this works very well in conjunction with his erstwhile and honest take on humour. Smashing stuff. Just Smashing. (5) Overall I thought Bill's style of comedy was very 'dry' and very 'in your face'. And he doesn't even seem to try to pull his punches when says whatever he's about to say. No way. He's the proverbial 'China Shop Bull' who's got one hell of an itch to scratch. (7) Although it is apparent that Bill does attempt to entertain his live audience, in no way does it look like he's trying to pander to them, or kow-tow to their wishes. (8) In a strange fashion Bill's type of comedy reminds me of the British comedian, Alexei Sayle. Very punk. Very visceral. Very brash. And very observational by default. (9) At a guess, I'd say that Bill enjoys 60's and 70's music, more than 80's, huh? Hahahaha! (10) It seems blatantly obvious to me that Bill is a very liberal man with a very hard-lined axe to grind against more conservative ideals. Good for him.

Now from seeing Bill in this one performance, dear reader, I can now see why he has become such a legendary comedian. Yeah. No word of a lie. Whilst watching 'Sane Man', a phrase popped into my mind that sort of defined his set to me: 'Comedy is the new Rock and Roll'. Heck, I loved his style of humour so much, expect to see a lot more Bill Hicks reviews on my site soon.

Say no more.

THE RATING: A