You’ve got to be careful about what you say about Bill Hicks because he is one of those comedians whose fans are so rabidly enthusiastic, so devoted in their obsession that if you so much as misquote a pronoun from one of his “bits” they will rain vicious hate down upon you harder than Hicks would on his ideological enemies: politicians, celebrities and white people in general.
The man in black – or “[Noam] Cholmsky with dick jokes” as he referred to himself – became a comedy icon for his raging satire that attacked the very people that worshipped him (and still do worship him), namely white collar caucasians, and he became a legend when he died of pancreatic cancer at age 32.
American: The Bill Hicks Story is a new documentary directed by Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas about the comic’s life and his career told in voiceover interviews with Hicks’ friends and family, detailing the years it took Hicks to find his voice and his legendary stand up performances, and less so his battle with alcohol, his experiments with drugs and his failed relationships. The imagery mixes photographs, illustrations, animations and archival footage – which you can get a glimpse of in the official documentary trailer:
No Australian release date has been announced, but rumours that a potential screening at the Melbourne International Film Festival have been floating around.
There is another Bill Hicks film that is rumoured to be in pre-production, with Ron Howard at the helm and Russell Crowe tipped as the actor to portray the comedian.
