Bill Hicks
Bill Hicks
William Melvin "Bill" Hickswas an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician. His material, encompassing a wide range of social issues including religion, politics, and philosophy, was controversial, and often steeped in dark comedy. He criticized consumerism, superficiality and banality within the media and popular culture, which he characterized as oppressive tools of the ruling class that keep people "stupid and apathetic"...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionComedian
Date of Birth16 December 1961
CityValdosta, GA
CountryUnited States of America
When you're...stepping over a guy on the sidewalk...does it ever occur to you to think, 'Wow. Maybe our system doesn't work?'
What strikes me as funny about Elvis is that all the impersonators choose to do the Vegas Elvis, not the young, cool guy...
I saw a sign on the side of the road in Tennessee once that said 'dirt for sale'... what a great country we live in. DIRT for sale. How would you like to get inside that guys mind and look around for a hour? That guy sees opportunity at every glance, doesn't he?
The puppet on the right shares my beliefs, the puppet on the left is more to my liking. Hey...there's one guy holding up both!
They also have a sense of irony, which America doesn't have seeing as it's being run by fundamentalists who take things literally.
You think when Jesus comes back, he really wants to see a cross? That's like going up to Jackie Onassis with a rifle pendant on.
I'm an American who loves an America which doesn't exist, which is a land of freedom and free ideas.
Sixteen years I've pounded my head against the mentality of America, which...I'd say it's about an 8th grade emotional level.
The role of the comedian is to say 'Wait a minute' when a consensus starts to form.
The Voice of Reason is in us all...and everyone can recognize it because it makes sense and everyone benefits from it equally.
I was over in Australia during Easter, which was really interesting. You know, they celebrate Easter the exact same way we do, commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus by telling our children that a giant bunny rabbit ... left chocolate eggs in the night. Now ... I wonder why we're f-ked up as a race. I've read the Bible. I can't find the word "bunny" or "chocolate" anywhere in the f-king book.
I'm a heavy smoker. I go through two lighters a day.
Folks, it's time to evolve. That's why we're troubled. You know why our institutions are failing us, the church, the state, everything's failing? It's because, um – they're no longer relevant. We're supposed to keep evolving. Evolution did not end with us growing opposable thumbs. You do know that, right?
This is the idea that has made me...an anonymous figure in America...If you have children here tonight...they are NOT special.