Look into his eyes. He often called himself a little dark poet, but what he did with words was not exactly poetry. The theme this week, Pick up the gun, was taken from one of Hicks’ performances. Every time Hicks got on stage, he knew he was picking up the gun, the gun that would give his enemy the justification he needed to kill the man in black. Hicks knew it would happen, but he also knew that he had no other choice but to pick up the gun.
So, what do you do in such a situation? The poor shephard, worried for his life, tried to pick it up with enough time to at least get a shot off, but there’s never enough time. If you have to pick up the gun, the only weapon you have is your words; you make the bastard who is going to shoot you regret the fact that they waited as long as they did. That’s what Bill Hicks did every time he got on stage. Well, every time but once.
Living as he did on the cusp of popularity but always being just too risque, it was no surprise that Hicks was bumped from Letterman multiple times. However, it was the last time that really hurt. He had told Letterman that he wasn’t sure about going on the show again as none of his segments had ever aired. Letterman assured Hicks that his segment would air, that Letterman would make sure of it. The producers read and approved of Hicks’s material, and all was set to go. Hicks went on and was a hit to the audience. But when he got back to his hotel to watch the show, he didn’t see himself. His bit had been cut. Appropriately pissed off, Hicks called the studio and asked for a copy of his tape. They refused.
At the time, Hicks had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Over the next few months he continued to try to get NBC to release the tapes, but they wouldn’t. As he lay dying, family members called NBC to no avail.
Hicks was amazing. Part social commentary, part dick and fart jokes, all, without a doubt, some of the most insightful shit out there.
Recently Letterman invited Hicks’ mother on his show to apologize and to finally air the never before seen footage. If you ask me, it’s still about 17 years too late.
Photo Credit: joel spitzer
*Trying something new here with the obit. Leave a comment and let me know if you would like to see something like this as a weekly post!
Bill Hicks was a god