Synopses & Reviews
In 1993, network executives abruptly cut the final appearance of comedian Bill Hicks a scathing tirade of digs on the Pope and the pro-life movement from an episode of
The Late Show with David Letterman. His banning from the show, along with a profile in
The New Yorker by veteran writer John Lahr, catapulted Hicks to national prominence. Just months later, at age 32, he died of pancreatic cancer. Now available for the first time are Hick's most critical and comic observations, gathered from his stand-up routines, diaries, notebooks, letters, and final writings.
This collection features his controversial humor and witheringly funny attacks on American culture, from its worship of celebrity and material goods to its involvement in the first Gulf War. Love All the People faithfully traces Hicks's evolution from a funny but conventional stand-up comedian into a fearless and brilliant iconoclast.
Review
[A] celebration of the short life and career of one of Americas most controversial stand-ups...Hicks casts a long shadow over modern comedy. It is hard to find a stand-up who does not admire his work. Times of London
Review
Bill was right up there with Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor. He was easily the best comic of my generation. Brett Butler
Review
Bill Hicks blowtorch, excavator, truth-sayer, and brain specialist, like a reverend waving a gun around. He will correct your vision. Others will drive on the road he built. Tom Waits
Review
[A]n incredibly moving experience. Independent on Sunday
Review
He was hilarious, brilliant, brave, and right about everything. Henry Rollins
Synopsis
This posthumous collection features Hicks's controversial humor and witheringly funny attacks on American culture, from its worship of celebrity and material goods to its involvement in the first Gulf War.
About the Author
Bill Hicks was born in Valdosta, GA, in 1961. Hicks cited his formative influences as being down to his prized typewriter on which he'd compose his own scripts, a small b/w tv (or 'Lucifer's Dream Box'), a poster of Woody Allen and a fixation with
The Tonight Show. The result was a radical philosopher masquerading as a stand-up comic, plumbing the American psyche with challenging (and side-splitting) conclusions. Letterman shot Hicks to national prominence not only because of his regular slots, but because his spectacular banning from the show following an un-aired tirade against pro-lifers and the Pope. In 1993, he died of pancreatic cancer, aged 32.
John Lahr is the Senior Drama Critic at The New Yorker. He is the author of 18 books and numerous plays.