Bill Hicks

[Rick]

I just had to share this. Funny stuff and right on the mark. There was a controversy when he appeared on David Letterman back in the early 90s. He did a routine about pro-life organizations, where he encouraged them to "lock arms and block cemeteries" instead of medical clinics, but his routine was cut from the show.

Pardon the profanity.

He died in 1994 at 33?

http://www.gavinsblog.com/revelations.htm

Here's an excerpt

ON CHRISTIANITY

That's another good thing about Bush being gone, man, cos for the last 12 years with Reagan and Bush, we have had fundamentalist Christians in the White House. Fundamentalist Christians who believe the Bible is the exact word of God, including that wacky fire and brimstone Revelations ending, have had their finger on the fucking button for 12 years. [Eyes roll back in head] "Tell me when Lord, tell me when. Let me be your servant Lord." Fundamentalist Christianity - fascinating. These people actually believe that the bi.., er, the world is 12 thousand years old. Swear to God. What the..? Based on what? I asked them. "Well we looked at all the people in the Bible and we added 'em up all the way back to Adam and Eve, their ages - 12 thousand years." Well how fucking scientific, okay. I didn't know that you'd gone to so much trouble. That's good. You believe the world's 12 thousand years old? "That's right." Okay I got one word to ask you, a one word question, ready? "uh huh." Dinosaurs. You know the world's 12 thousand years old and dinosaurs existed, they existed in that time, you'd think it would have been mentioned in the fucking Bible at some point. "And lo Jesus and the disciples walked to Nazareth. But the trail was blocked by a giant brontosaurus... with a splinter in his paw. And O the disciples did run a shriekin': 'What a big fucking lizard, Lord!' But Jesus was unafraid and he took the splinter from the brontosaurus's paw and the big lizard became his friend. And Jesus sent him to Scotland where he lived in a loch for O so many years inviting thousands of American tourists to bring their fat fucking families and their fat dollar bills. And oh Scotland did praise the Lord. Thank you Lord, thank you Lord. Thank you Lord."

Get this, I actually asked one of these guys, OK, Dinosaurs fossils - how does that fit into you scheme of life? Let me sit down and strap in. He said, "Dinosaur fossils? God put those there to test our faith." Thank God I'm strapped in right now here man. I think God put you here to test my faith, Dude. You believe that? "uh huh." Does that trouble anyone here? The idea that God.. might be.. fuckin' with our heads? I have trouble sleeping with that knowledge. Some prankster God running around: "Hu hu ho. We will see who believes in me now, ha ha." [mimes God burying fossils] "I am God, I am a prankster." "I am killing Me." You know, You die and go to St. Peter... "Did you believe in dinosaurs?" "Well, yeah. There was fossils everywhere" Thuh [trapdoor opens] "Aaaaaaarhhh!" "You fuckin idiot." "Flying lizards, you're a moron. God was fuckin' with you!" "It seemed so plausible, ahhhh!" "Enjoy the lake of fire, fucker!"

You ever noticed how people who believe in creationism look really unevolved? Ya ever noticed that? Eyes real close together, eyebrow ridges, big furry hands and feet. "I believe God created me in one day" Yeah, looks liked He rushed it. They believe the bible is the exact word of God - Then they change the bible! Pretty presumptuous, hu huh? "I think what God meant to say..." I have never been that confident. Next we have a bible out called 'The New Living Bible', it's the bible in updated and modern English. I guess to make it more palatable for people to read. But its really weird, when you listen to it. "And Jesus walked on water. And Peter said, 'Awesome!'" Suddenly we got Jesus hanging ten across the Sea of Galilee. Christ's Bogus Adventure, you know. Deuteronomy 90210, you know.

Such a weird belief. Lot of Christians wear crosses around their necks. You think when Jesus comes back he's gonna want to see a fucking cross, man? "Oaww" May be why he hasn't shown up yet. "Man, they're still wearing crosses. Fuck it, I'm not goin, dad. No, they totally missed the point. When they start wearing fishes I might show up again, but... Let me bury fossil heads with you Dad, Fuck em - Let's Fuck with them! They're fuckin with me now, lets get em. Give me that brontosaurus head, Dad."

 

[Guest]

-He died in 1994 at 33?

Bill Hicks has been an interest of mine for years now. He certianly did die young and rather unexpectedly of pancreatic cancer. The pancreas, in chinse medicine, is the organ of worry. That is, worrying too much is supposed to effect the organ. If you've heard Hick's routines, you can hear it in his voice.
He's been quoted to have had a paranormal experience while on mushrooms. Here's the quote:

[ Bill Hicks ]
"Me and two friends, we had this shared vision of being visited by a ship. And these seven balls of light, which inside you could see these little skeleton figures inside, moving in these lights, and they led us onto their ship. And we were asking them, all telepathically, "Why are you doing this?" And they said, "Because you wanted to know." And we said, "Why us?" And they said, "Because you'll see it for what we are." And we said, "How do you do what you do?" And they said, "We'll show you." And they opened up their ship, and we all saw this bright light.

This was a vision, we were not together when this happened. We got together later, and we'd forgotten about it. And my friend said, "Do you get the impression we're meeting lots of new friends tonight?" And all three of us, that memory dawned. Kind of a neat experience. "

The response of the seven balls of light, I fiind particularly interesting. When asked why they were doing this, they say "because you wanted to know.". I think Bill was searching, really looking and feeling lost and wanting to KNOW. It's a way of asking with everything that you are, a resonance in a way, instead of just forming the words with your mouth. The C's mention that asking is important, because they cannot aid those who don't ask.
Hicks represented a very powerful force while he was alive. His art was his humor, and through all the smut, I sense a longing to really see through the lies. He touched alot of people with his work. And yes, he was vulgar and raw and very VERY honest in front of millions of people. A prime candidate for a little STS intervention.
The only other person to ever be censored from the Tonight Show besides Bill Hicks was Elvis Preseley. Elvis for his gyrating hips routine and Billy for what he wanted to say to the mass public.

 

[Cyre2067]

Ya friggin time travellers.... I was listening to some music the other day when i had the following click in my head: "So everytime anyone gets enough of a following they go back in time and off the dude before he has the chance to make his big point." With this i looked at mostly muscians lives, but also comics. You can see this innate struggle for making humor/music/art out of truth, and then WHACK! they die at an early age from something like a drug overdose or heart disease. The pattern reoccurs too often to be coincidental imho.

 

[Tenten]

For the fun!
On some P2P networks, you can download some of his shows...

Source : http://sazmatazz.users.btopenworld.com/

Bill Hicks, the late American comedian, who died of pancreatic cancer aged only 32.

Bill Hicks, The Truth Will Set You Free...

"Well folks, this is a sentimental evening for me -- this is my final live performance. The last I'll ever do ever. No biggie, no hard feelings, no sour grapes whatsoever. I've been doing this every day for sixteen years and I enjoyed every second of it. Every plane flight every delay every canceled flight every lost lost luggage living in hotel rooms every broken relationship playing the comedy pouch in Possum Ridge Arkansas every fuckin' year it's been great -- don't get me wrong. I'm just very tired, very tired of doing comedy, very tired of seeing your vacant faces staring back at me wanting me to fill your empty lives with humor you couldn't possibly think of yourselves."

Favourite Quotes:

**Warning: some of the quotes below may be offensive to some!** maybe not here, who knows?

"A lot of Christians wear crosses around their necks. Do you think when Jesus comes back, he's really going to want to see a fucking cross? Ow! Maybe that's why he hasn't shown up yet...it's like going up to Jackie Onassis wearing a rifle pendant...just thinking of John..."

"Frightening people man. Bush tried to buy votes towards the end of the election. Goes around, you know, selling weapons to everyone, getting that military industrial complex vote happening for him. Sold 160 fighter jets to Korea and then 240 tanks to Kuwait and then goes around making speeches why he should be Commander-in-Chief because, "We still live in a dangerous world."...Thanks to you, you fucker!"

On Kennedy...

"I love talking about Kennedy. I was just down in Dallas, Texas. You know you can go down there and, er, to Dealey Plaza where Kennedy was assassinated. And you can actually go to the sixth floor of the Schoolbook Depository. It's a museum called... 'The Assassination Museum'. I think they named that after the assassination. I can't be too sure of the chronology here but... Anyway they have the window set up to look exactly like it did on that day. And it's really accurate, you know, cos Oswald's not in it."

"Unbelievable. And you know what's wild, people's, attitudes in the States about it. Talking about Kennedy, people come up to me: "Bill, quit talking about Kennedy, man. Let it go. It's a long time ago - just forget about it."And I'm like alright, then don't bring up Jesus to me! As long as we're talking shelf life here. "Bill, you know Jesus died for you." Yeah, well it was a long time ago. Forget about it!"

One of my favourite quotes on advertising:

"By the way if anyone here is in advertising or marketing... kill yourself. No, no, no it's just a little thought. I'm just trying to plant seeds. Maybe one day, they'll take root - I don't know. You try, you do what you can. Kill yourself. Seriously though, if you are, do. Aaah, no really, there's no rationalisation for what you do and you are Satan's little helpers, Okay - kill yourself - seriously. You are the ruiner of all things good, seriously. No this is not a joke, you're going, "there's going to be a joke coming," there's no fucking joke coming. You are Satan's spawn filling the world with bile and garbage. You are fucked and you are fucking us. Kill yourself. It's the only way to save your fucking soul, kill yourself. Planting seeds. I know all the marketing people are going, "he's doing a joke... there's no joke here whatsoever. Suck a tail-pipe, fucking hang yourself, borrow a gun from a Yank friend - I don't care how you do it. Rid the world of your evil fucking machinations. I know what all the marketing people are thinking right now too, "Oh, you know what Bill's doing, he's going for that anti-marketing dollar. That's a good market, he's very smart." Oh man, I am not doing that. You fucking evil scumbags! "Ooh, you know what Bill's doing now, he's going for the righteous indignation dollar. That's a big dollar. A lot of people are feeling that indignation. We've done research - huge market. He's doing a good thing." Godammit, I'm not doing that, you scum-bags!

Quit putting a godamm dollar sign on every fucking thing on this planet!

"Ooh, the anger dollar. Huge. Huge in times of recession. Giant market, Bill's very bright to do that." God, I'm just caught in a fucking web! "Ooh the trapped dollar, big dollar, huge dollar. Good market - look at our research. We see that many people feel trapped. If we play to that and then separate them into the trapped dollar..." How do you live like that? And I bet you sleep like fucking babies at night, don't you?"

Another of my favourites...Bill on the brainwashing effects of TV...

"So there, we have figured it out, go back to bed America, your government has figured out how it all transpired. Go back to bed America, your government is in control again. Here, here's American Gladiators. Watch this, shut up. Go back to bed America, here's American Gladiators. Here's 56 channels of it. Watch these pituitary retards bang their fuckin skulls together and congratulate you on living in the land of freedom. Here you go America, you are free... to do as we tell you. You are free, to do as we tell you."

We are all one consciousness...

And Bill, lamenting how you never see a positive drug story on the news..."Today, a young man on acid realised that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration and that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There's no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and you are the imagination of yourself. Here's Tom with the weather...!"

Bill's powerful closing speech...
"The world is like a ride in an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it, you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it's very brightly coloured and it's very loud and it's fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time and they begin to question, is this real, or is this just a ride? And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, they say, "Hey - don't worry, don't be afraid, ever, because, this is just a ride..." And we... kill those people.

"We have a lot invested in this ride. Shut him up. Look at my furrows of worry. Look at my big bank account and my family. This just has to be real." Just a ride. But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok. But it doesn't matter because: It's just a ride. And we can change it anytime we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings and money. A choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love, instead, see all of us as one. Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money that we spend on weapons and defences each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace. Thank you very much, you've been great."

Bill Hicks (December 16, 1961 -- February 26, 1994 )

 

[anart]

For just a tiny example of why Bill may have died so young.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9ARfQHgmTo&mode=related&search=

He paid too much attention, he thought too much and he talked plainly about what he thought - it just could not be allowed - OSIT. (however, he also spend time being really crass and vulgar -but, all in all - he did seem to actually have a working brain and a very active mouth)

 

[Russ]

Here is the full interview, saw it the other day:

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-1299107900392312026

I don't think Bill Hicks was that much of a worrier, he just doesn't strike me as that sort of person. I think he accepted the way things are, and just wanted to give people a chance to hear what he had to say, in order to offer a possible change - if people wanted to listen to him. Some of his tone suggests to me that he is exasperated with living in a world where he doesn't really "fit", like he wants to meet people similar to him but doesn't find that many, or he would like it if there were more people like him on the planet.

Theres a 30 minute set of his on google video too:

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=1366476727111157120

 

[anart]

He also had a pilot for a show in the UK, on which he aired his manifesto....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmEhYULO8L0&mode=related&search=

for some odd reason, something sounds familiar in that. ;)

 

[kommunikationisthekey]

Pardon the profanity.

What profanity?

... you or wherever you pasted the quote from edited the "profanity" out...

a quick question to the forum moderators.... would an instance like this be grounds for banning from the forum?.. if the "profane" words were left intact...even though they came from a quote?....

I can understand banning people who use profanity in their commentary... which is not necessary in this forum....but a quote? Is all profanity out or can some of it be useful as long as the context remains intact?... I don't see a need for profanity when commenting on a thread... but when someone you're quoting uses it in a certain context... is that okay here? I know # 4 of the rules of the forum states "We have ZERO tolerance for profanity".... but does that include quotes?.. when the person in the situation being quoted allowed for such profanity?

Okay.. got that out of the way.. but just one more thing.....

The only other person to ever be censored from the Tonight Show besides Bill Hicks was Elvis Preseley. Elvis for his gyrating hips routine and Billy for what he wanted to say to the mass public.

Elvis was not censored from the "Tonight Show".... Elvis was censored from the "Ed Sullivan Show".... which is the same theatre the "Tonight Show", Dave Letterman's show.... is filmed in..... and it was Dave Letterman's show that Bill Hicks was censored from......

Just wanted to get those two things out of the way before I commented on Bill Hicks....

I've seen some of you commenting on his use of vulgarity.... as if his use of vulgarity was wrong.

But I think his particular use of it was very enlightening... it seemed to me... that he would use vulgarity, profanity, and taboo language in order to discredit ideas that had been held sacred for so long....
I think there was a purpose behind his usage of such things... his vulgar approach seemed to reach out to those who would have otherwise not thought about such things.....
he spoke from having had walked in the "common" man's shoes... the vulgarity was there to identify with those whom used such language in their daily lives... it was all done in a mockery of itself. It seemed to me that he used vulgarity.. to garner support from those who would not ordinarily question what was going on....

The words and methods he used... appealed to a more "average" human... than that of one who considers themself a "student of knowledge".... the purpose being to "awaken" those who would not have ever considered the ideas he put forth..... the idea that things are not what they seem....

The production company he and his friends founded is called "Sacred Cow Productions".......

It seemed he was a very dangerous individual.... considering he would put a truthful spin to the happenings of the world... that the "mob" could understand..... perhaps someone like him that could put things into perspective for those who don't ordinarily think in such ways...... I think he'd be having "field day" with what's going on now.... I would have loved to hear his commentary on 9/11... the clip of him talking about what happened during the Waco event during his apparent last interview was great....

I think people like him are the front line of this war though..... the war of Truth and lies.... some people in the entertainment business speak messages of there being more to life than what you're currently living.... I just find it funny that the more truthful they are in their message.... the more likely they end up dead before their time.....
John Lennon tried really hard...but he got shot..... that caused a lot of controversy...... Bob Marley tried to speak of a gnostic oneness between us all......he got shot... but lived... but eventually died of a cancer in his toe........

Bill Hicks joked about being shot onstage for what he was saying... and died of pancreatic cancer... but I like to believe that he was just as great as either of them.. if not better... ... I think his kind of satire and mockery is needed in times like these...... I think Bill Hicks was a medium to transfer people to places like this... this SOTT forum....
perhaps some ... after seeing him onstage eventually found their way here in search of the Truth.... but maybe there are people more like me who came here later on...... and found confirmation that what goes on around here on this forum, is exactly the kind of the thing people like John Lennon, Bob Marley, and Bill Hicks may have been looking for..... a discussion of like-minded individuals in the pursuit of Truth.... I didn't ever have the chance to know anything about Bill Hicks before his death......

The point of this whole thing was to say that..... sure he was vulgar...and used profanity..and did indeed offend many people.... but I think there was a very good reason for his doing so....... part of informing people of the Truth is confronting their sacred cows of "profanity" and "vulgarity"..... part of informing people of reality is in "breaking" their rules.... He was fighting for our freedoms... in his own way... his methods might not have been so "nice"..... But at least he had an obvious goal...... which he included at the end of every show....
As Tenten quoted of Mr. Bill Hicks on his HBO special in London......

"The world is like a ride in an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it, you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it's very brightly coloured and it's very loud and it's fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time and they begin to question, is this real, or is this just a ride? And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, they say, "Hey - don't worry, don't be afraid, ever, because, this is just a ride..." And we... kill those people.

"We have a lot invested in this ride. Shut him up. Look at my furrows of worry. Look at my big bank account and my family. This just has to be real." Just a ride. But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok. But it doesn't matter because: It's just a ride. And we can change it anytime we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings and money. A choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love, instead, see all of us as one. Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money that we spend on weapons and defences each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace. Thank you very much, you've been great."

 

[Mr. Premise]

This piece here about a master marketer who looks for "codes" in the "reptilian brain" will help explain Hicks's feelings about marketing:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders/interviews/rapaille.html

Very interesting...

One of my favourite quotes on advertising:

"By the way if anyone here is in advertising or marketing... kill yourself. No, no, no it's just a little thought. I'm just trying to plant seeds. Maybe one day, they'll take root - I don't know. You try, you do what you can. Kill yourself. Seriously though, if you are, do. Aaah, no really, there's no rationalisation for what you do and you are Satan's little helpers, Okay - kill yourself - seriously. You are the ruiner of all things good, seriously. No this is not a joke, you're going, "there's going to be a joke coming," there's no fucking joke coming. You are Satan's spawn filling the world with bile and garbage. You are fucked and you are fucking us. Kill yourself. It's the only way to save your fucking soul, kill yourself. Planting seeds. I know all the marketing people are going, "he's doing a joke... there's no joke here whatsoever. Suck a tail-pipe, fucking hang yourself, borrow a gun from a Yank friend - I don't care how you do it. Rid the world of your evil fucking machinations. I know what all the marketing people are thinking right now too, "Oh, you know what Bill's doing, he's going for that anti-marketing dollar. That's a good market, he's very smart." Oh man, I am not doing that. You fucking evil scumbags! "Ooh, you know what Bill's doing now, he's going for the righteous indignation dollar. That's a big dollar. A lot of people are feeling that indignation. We've done research - huge market. He's doing a good thing." Godammit, I'm not doing that, you scum-bags!

Quit putting a godamm dollar sign on every fucking thing on this planet!

"Ooh, the anger dollar. Huge. Huge in times of recession. Giant market, Bill's very bright to do that." God, I'm just caught in a fucking web! "Ooh the trapped dollar, big dollar, huge dollar. Good market - look at our research. We see that many people feel trapped. If we play to that and then separate them into the trapped dollar..." How do you live like that? And I bet you sleep like fucking babies at night, don't you?"

 

[Azur]

As a character in a Tom Robbins book once said: "The more advertising I see, the less I want to buy".

 

[Rick]

Pardon the profanity.

What profanity?

... you or wherever you pasted the quote from edited the "profanity" out...

I left the profanity in, but it was edited out shortly after posting by the administrator, I presume.
I have to admit I hadn't heard of Bill Hicks until recently and wish I had paid more attention, but I wasn't a big late night talk show viewer and in fact hardly watch tv at all.

 

[Mr. Premise]

The profanity is not "edited." There is an automatic filter that runs and substitutes some silly alternatives (like Boooootayyy and flicking and 'satiation professional')

Pardon the profanity.

What profanity?

... you or wherever you pasted the quote from edited the "profanity" out...

I left the profanity in, but it was edited out shortly after posting by the administrator, I presume.
I have to admit I hadn't heard of Bill Hicks until recently and wish I had paid more attention, but I wasn't a big late night talk show viewer and in fact hardly watch tv at all.

 

[kommunikationisthekey]

The profanity is not "edited." There is an automatic filter that runs and substitutes some silly alternatives (like Boooootayyy and flicking and 'satiation professional')

Oooh...heh..okay. Sorry, wasn't aware of that.

 

[Mr. Premise]

Yeah, I toyed with the idea of demonstrating it by entering in George Carlin's seven words you can't say on the radio, but thought better of it in case one of the words didn't have an alternative.

The profanity is not "edited." There is an automatic filter that runs and substitutes some silly alternatives (like Boooootayyy and flicking and 'satiation professional')

Oooh...heh..okay. Sorry, wasn't aware of that.

 

[StarFraction]

Basic sanity

AKA 'intelligent humour'

Bill Hicks legendary one night stand

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=1366476727111157120&q=Bill+hicks+legendary

I think this guy was ... indescribable.

My being resonates.

StarFraction

"Train hard; fight easy"
- Marshal Suvarov