Bill Hicks: Comic, philosopher, documentary subject

One of the movies premiering at SXSW the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas this month is called American: The Bill Hicks Story. The documentary tells the story of Bill Hicks, a legendary comedian and social commentator who died of cancer in Little Rock in 1994 at the age of only 32. He is by far my favorite comedian of all time. Hicks is huge in Great Britain, but America has so far seemed less willing to embrace his difficult truths.

I've done a couple of stories about Bill for KUAR Radio, one here won an award for us while this story last year focused on a Letterman appearance by Hicks mother, who still lives in Little Rock and was on hand for the premiere of the film in Austin. Mary Hicks heard the first story on FM 89 and sent me a book of Bill's writings along with a gracious personal note.

Here's a clip from the documentary, which features a really cool new animation technique.


And here's a half-hour of Hicks' uncensored stand-up from 1990. Brilliant.