Hahaha!

( girlinthehole, Thu 15 Dec 2011, 17:03, 1 reply, 14 years ago)

Bill said it best:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDW_Hj2K0wo
( CQ Knows the truth, all of it., Thu 15 Dec 2011, 17:03, Reply)

Bill was a bit of a knob with terrible hair.

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Thu 15 Dec 2011, 17:08, Reply)

Paranoid wanker.

(PsychoChomp, Thu 15 Dec 2011, 17:08, Reply)

You know those times when you're wrong?
This is one of those.
( CQ Knows the truth, all of it., Thu 15 Dec 2011, 17:10, Reply)

He had some good points to make
but was essentially not actually very funny. To check I wasn't wrong on this I watched three hours of live footage and documentaries on television a few months ago. I only lolled once and that was one of his many 'talking to the police on acid' routines. One thing that really stood out is how little material he had - he really repeated himself A LOT.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Thu 15 Dec 2011, 17:17, Reply)

Well, this is all true.
but you're still wrong, so there.
( CQ Knows the truth, all of it., Thu 15 Dec 2011, 17:21, Reply)

If he was dubbed a 'social commentator' I'd have no problem with the fellow at all.
I just query the 'comedian' tag.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Thu 15 Dec 2011, 17:25, Reply)

I concur

( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Thu 15 Dec 2011, 17:25, Reply)

This is true of all comedians though.
It's just not all comedians have had their back catalogues and footage so ruthlessly pillaged and exploited.

I should stress I am using 'exploited' in the non 'wah, wah, poor Bill, he's been exploited' sense of the word.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Thu 15 Dec 2011, 17:25, Reply)

I suppose a comic's gags are the equivalent to the songs a musician plays,
but having watched a few hours of the man he really didn't seem to have more than a few notable routines because across a live show and a two-hour doc shit was repeated several times over.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Thu 15 Dec 2011, 17:30, Reply)

The thing is, this was a touring Comedian not a TV comedian.
And touring comedians will keep the same set for years, because people don't get familiar with it. Comedy wasn't about 'superstars' releasing a DVD every Christmas and having to write a whole new set every 12 months at that time.

Obviously we have no idea how prolific or otherwise Hicks may have been in a different era or different situation, but he certainly was no different in the quantity of his output than any obscure but working stand up comedian would be.

Add to that his relatively short career and the even more limited timespan in which he was actually well known enough to have any of his stuff recorded for posterity.

The difference between him and most is that he went stratospheric after he died, so there is only a limited pool to choose from. I think it's a combination of over-adulation and a life cut short that leaves documentarians repeating the same bits over and over.

I think about things like this too much, don't I?
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Thu 15 Dec 2011, 17:37, Reply)

You comments are fair and I accept them.
For this reason I shall change back to 'he wasn't very funny' as my principal criticism.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Thu 15 Dec 2011, 17:43, Reply)