31 Years...

 

The two Tool songs written about Bill Hicks - faroutmagazine.co.uk

In the world of 1990s comedy, Bill Hicks was in his own world. Outside of being funny whenever he got up onstage, he had more than a few good points about the music scene, from the devil still owning all the excellent music to most of the most incredible acts in the world being high out of their mind when they wrote their classic hits. He may have called it as he saw it, but Tool were paying close attention to what he had to say.

Around the same time that Hicks was blossoming as a comic, Tool was hard at work turning metal inside out. After coming off of their debut assault Undertow, Aenema was where they started to spread out a little bit more, incorporating progressive elements into their music, like shifting time signatures and existential musings on society.

Although the band were avid fans of Hicks, they shoehorned some of his material into their songs, writing both the title track and the closer ‘Third Eye’ based on his comedy routines. While Hicks’ original routine had to do with California falling into the ocean and damaging the yuppies with oceanfront homes, Maynard James Keenan plays off of the same idea as he screams, “LEARN TO SWIM”. 

READ FULL ARTICLE - faroutmagazine.co.uk

Yardbarker: The 25 greatest stand-up comedians of all time

 

Bill Hicks' humor was extremely dark, like his bit where he told people in marketing to kill themselves, which in our current social media age feels ahead of its time. He only lived to age 32, struck down in his prime by pancreatic cancer. But before that he made 11 appearances on Letterman's shows, opened for the band Tool and experimented with every drug known to man, which led to telling "positive drug stories" on stage. For the record, there's no truth to the rumor that he's really Alex Jones.

SOURCE: Yardbreaker

Ireland: Tullamore fundraiser to pay tribute to legendary comedian Bill Hicks

 

An annual tribute to the late comedy legend Bill Hicks will take place this Friday (February 25), upstairs in Fergies Bar, Market Square, Tullamore. The event will raise money for Family Carers Ireland.

Hicks, who grew up in Texas, is regarded as one of the greatest stand-ups of all time. He died of pancreatic cancer in 1994, aged just 32, but his original and darkly hilarious social commentary continues to attract an audience.

Johnny Keenan, Offaly promoter of comedy, spoken word, music and song, has being spreading the good word of Hicks since he undertook the promotion of 'A Public Members Bill' in 2014.

Tickets are €15 and can be bought from the Family Carers Ireland office on Market Square, Tullamore. Doors will open at 8pm, and the show will start at 8.30pm.

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Paul Rudd rocks Bill Hicks shirt on SNL

On the May 18th 2019 episode of SNL know fan Paul Rudd  paid homage to Bill by wearing a shirt graced by Bill's face. This may be the only time Bill has ever actually appeared on SNL.

Full episode (shirt appears at 51:10) - https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/may-18-paul-rudd/3957862

Revelations: Variations - OUT NOW!

On 11/29/1992 at the end of a very successful sold out tour of the UK, Bill performed in London at the Dominion Theatre to a raucous, enthusiastic capacity crowd. This performance became his last recorded special, Revelations, which many consider to be Bill in peak form. When Revelations was originally broadcast on TV and subsequently released on DVD and LP the length of those was one hour and 13 minutes long, being edited to that more time-slot friendly length. But, the actual show that Bill performed that night was an epic, running just under two hours long. Now for the first time the entire audio of the show is being released as Bill performed it that night ......... All 43 missing minutes!!!!

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Available worldwide October 26, 2018

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