Product Details

• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Rykodisc
• DVD Release Date: October 26, 2004
• Run Time: 210 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0004Z33FK
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,033 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Bill Hicks's scathing, fearless standup comedy is on full display in Satirist, Social Critic, Stand-Up Comedian, the first official DVD release containing the late performer's work. Hicks, who died in 1994 at age 32, may not have been a total original; he's often compared to Lenny Bruce, as well as Sam Kinison and others, and he was hardly the first comic to talk about sex, drugs, politics, and religion, even if Hicks's takes on these matters are usually strikingly fresh. But there's simply no denying the unabashed, in-your-face power of these three early '90s performances, one each from Chicago, Montreal (entitled Relentless, this show originally aired on HBO), and London. Hicks is profane, to say the least, but never crude for its own sake, and certainly not stupid (we're not talking Andrew Dice Clay here). His humor is abrasive, passionate, shameless, provocative--calling non-smokers "obnoxious, self-righteous slugs" is one of his milder observations--and it's delivered in riveting, almost preacher-like fashion, with a strong physical element. And anyone who doubts his impact, both during and after his short, turbulent life, need only watch "It's Just a Ride," the 40-minute documentary accompanying the three live shows, in which both family and famous (Jay Leno and David Letterman among them) comment on him and work. In the end, you realize that since his death, no comic has come along who can touch Bill Hicks. --Sam Graham

Product Description

BILL HICKS - ON DVD AT LAST!

Bill Hicks Live is the first official DVD release from the legendary and beloved comedian.

Since Bill died in 1993, his work has reached a new audience and he has become a powerful cult figure. For these fans who never had the opportunity to see Bill in person, this DVD will be a revelation. The DVD captures Bill at his very best, with three of his legendary filmed performances:

"One Night Stand" from the Old Vic Theatre in Chicago (approx 30 minutes)

"Revelations" from the Dominion Theatre in London (approx 65 minutes)

"Relentless", Bill’s breakout performance at the Montreal Comedy Festival (approx 70 minutes)

The DVD focuses on his incredible live act, with Hicks hilariously assaulting the stage and the audience with a non-stop cornucopia of insights into our twisted world; the government, the military, the police, religion, smoking, pornography, drugs and of course, for those of you who are getting antsy, a couple of dick jokes.

As a bonus, the documentary "Just A Ride" surveys Bill’s remarkable career with insights from his peers; including Brett Butler, Eddie Izzard, Richard Jeni, Jay Leno, David Letterman and Thea Vidale. (approx 45 minutes)

Total running time: approx 3.5 hours of pure, unadulterated Hicks.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 55 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars His status as a legend is SECURED November 14, 2004

By John S. Harris VINE™ VOICE

Amazon Verified Purchase

As one who worked in comedy clubs for years and saw hundreds and hundreds of so-called comedians, I can assert that only a handful of comics make a lasting impression.

Hicks was one of those. Though I only got to see him onstage for one week's worth of shows in 1987, his body of work thankfully became more commercially available over the next decade.

Hicks is one of the rare comics with a point of view that both skewers and embraces Mankind. He loved his country and his fellow man, and that gave him license to stab and poke at their flaws. He championed THOUGHT as the means to combat Mediocrity and the Sheep Mentality.

This DVD is a sufficient look into his mastery of his craft and his unflinching control over his audience. Sometimes his control of the audience was mixed with disdain towards them, too. But it was closer to "tough love" than animosity or condescension.

Not everyone will recognize Bill's brilliance and not everyone will "get" the humor. Actually, the brighter you are the more likely you will appreciate Bill Hicks.

Buy this DVD and be elevated to a higher understanding of how the interactive medium of stand-up can be used as a persuasive pulpit not for bullying or mass entertainment but for communal introspection and self-examination.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "was i wrong? i wasn't, was i?" October 5, 2004

By anotherspaceboy

sick of the lies all politicians spew?

tired of having every aspect of your life turned into a commodity to be bought or sold by a corporation?

don't understand how cigarettes and drugs are the devil but alcohol is the fountain of youth?

what i'm asking is : do you want the truth? truth you know, truth you can feel in your bones, truth like when you were a kid truth?

just buy this dvd. even if you've heard it all before, you have to see it like this.

49 of 59 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The true successor to Lenny Bruce... October 5, 2004

By criderman

...but, unfortunately, he never was allowed to reach the peak of his success due to cowardly television and recording executives, and, again like Bruce, due to being a victim and slave to his own excesses--before I go on, I do not own a copy of this DVD, but before any of the usual suspects gets on your high horses to castigate me for reviewing a DVD I've never seen, I correct all of you in advance by answering, that yes, I have seen all this material before--the HBO special, I saw--duh!--on HBO and was one of his few attempts at commercial success as the material is watered-down but no less hilarious, just not as risky and compelling--and the rest I saw on two different PAL format VHS tapes I purchased in the Amsterdam airport gift shop--one was the same Relentless show and that one is later than the HBO special but earlier than the Revelations show--the Relentless show is one of the most funny but haunting comedy sets I have ever seen--Hicks performs all of the material on a dark stage only lit by a spotlight--this is the show that most of the Hicks fans out there will recognize their favorite bits from--the Revelations and the documentary was on the other of the VHS tapes I bought and was called "Totally Bill Hicks"--the Revelations show was haunting, but in a different way--the stage is garishly lit and he is introduced by blaring rock and roll, reminiscent of a Sam Kinison show--but by the middle of the set, Hicks is obviously SKYhigh, and by letting his true demons and inner self out, he skirts all the way to the edge of the abyss, just to pirouette and come back just enough to finish the show--all in all, I have to have this DVD just because upon my return to the US, I had the tapes transferred to NTSC format and they lost a lot of quality, but for the first time viewer or even some Hicks fans, seeing him live for the first time on these discs will be a shocking experience that you didn't or wouldn't get from the CDs--straight arrows, get ready for the drug humor, Republicans, get ready for the Bush-bashing, prudes, get ready for the porn jokes and racists, get ready for the OJ riots as seen from a white man's eyes--I say Hicks is the true successor to Bruce and not Richard Pryor as Hicks was brutal in his political satire and that's what kept him in the end from his exposure to a wider audience, wheras Pryor was more of a successor to Redd Foxx for the race and sex humor--your David Crosses, Janeane Garafalos and all the other (who I call) grunge humorists? That's right--with no Bill Hicks, they'd be doing airplane and 7-11 jokes like all the rest--David Letterman, shame on you for letting this brave and talented man down and shame on you, dear reader, if you don't spend the paltry sum required to see a true comedic genius in action--don't let him slip away in the pages of the cult performer like Bruce--highly recommended!