Customer Reviews

Bill Hicks Live - Satirist, Social Critic, Stand-Up Comedian

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

...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!

In a perfect world, Bill Hicks would've found the kind of fame and fortune and acceptance that went to other stand-up comics who parlayed their material into multi-million dollar sit-coms.

But we don't live in a perfect world, and that's one of the things that fueled Hicks' art. It almost makes sense that he died underheard, underpaid, censored and young.

The good news is that most of the things he railed against way back in the early 90s -- the war in Iraq, President Bush, awful pop music, closed-mindedness against drugs, corporate co-opting, advertising and smoking -- are all still pretty fresh topics.

This DVD includes his 1991 performance at Chicago's Old Vic Theatre (which was made as an HBO "One Night Stand"), his 1991 gig at the Montreal International Comedy Festival, his 1991 "Revelations" show at the Dominion Theatre in England and the documentary about his career, "It's Just a Ride," which aired in chopped-up form on Comedy Central years ago.

It's a great collection of material that is frightening, harrowing, intense and always, always incredibly funny. Required viewing for anybody who thinks more than, say, ten hours a day.

This DVD consists of 3 Bill Hicks Concerts, and the Hicks Documentary "It's Just A Ride". Sure, if you have the CD's, you have heard all this stuff - but seeing Bill's expressions, and his physical comedy adds a whole new dimension, you will dig it all over again. There was only one Bill Hicks.
Quality is pretty good, not really excellent. There is one section that has some lesser quality footage, but they warn you at the beginning, and you can watch the concert without the weaker footage (wimp!) or complete.
Everyone should be forced to watch this dvd. They'll thank us later.

I can't resist recording here that I was twice Bill Hick's high school teacher: For freshman algebra and for senior English. I was proud that I was one of the teachers he gave no trouble, mostly because I left him alone regarding trivia so long as he tested out OK. He was above average in both subjects. A few days before graduation, I took him aside and told him that I had become a pretty jaded audience but that I could tell that he was really special. He didn't seem especially impressed. I never flattered myself that I was an influence in his life, but I did know quality when I saw it. He was not a class clown, actually seemed rather sad and withdrawn much of the time, but he was no outcast; he had the respect of the "in group," I think. The only gag I remember: "I wanted to be an orthodontist, but my parents insist that I become a comedian."

My husband introduced me to Bill Hicks back in 1997 and I can't get enough. When I saw this DVD was being released, I was ecstatic and it did not disappoint at all. Even if you've heard all the jokes on the CD's, it's seeing his delivery that makes this a must buy for any Hicks fan. I strongly recommend this and love to see that his comedic legacy is living on.

I was lucky enough to see Mr Hicks live in Glasgow, when I was about 18. The crowd was full of people whom I recognised from music gigs around town and they gave him the kind of reception normally reserved for the gods of the rock pantheon (which he helped by coming out to Purple Haze and closing with Tomorrow Never Knows). I guess I was the perfect age at the perfect time to be receptive to his message and delivery - I too was angry at lying governments and hookwinking ad execs, and full of rock and roll spirit. I raved about him to everyone and bought all the CDs. He captured the early 90s perfectly - I was crushed when he died and to my mind there hasn't been anyone like him since. But watching this DVD all these years later, I realise that his schtick was not specific to our times. In some way everything he said was timeless- trust your own judgement,make informed choices, get out and see the world with your own eyes -he could have been a sophist fer chrissake! His inquisitiveness, his fearlessness and his quick mind live on in the spirit of anyone who questions life without descending into cynicism. To me Bill is not dead.

I just got through watching this masterpeice. It came in the mail earlier today. I must say that I am impressed. I've been a fan of Hicks for a little over a year and own all of his cd's, but had never actually seen him in action until earlier this afternoon. He had a great stage presence that coincided with his routines extremely well, and this DVD is evidence of that. His delivery was one of a kind. His audiences may not have always understood what he was all about, but he seems to hold his ground no matter what. "By the way there are d*ck jokes on the way." I have to agree with the other reviewers that say that you haven't heard truth until you've heard Hicks. Bill Hicks can easily change the way that you look at everything in this world.

If your a diehard fan like I am you have probally seen much of the material on this DVD on bootleg versions. You will not be disappointed revisiting the great Bill HIcks at his "live" best. If your new to the world acording to Bill Hicks be prepared to have the way you think changed forever, while laughing your backside off. The bonus material is icing on the delicious cake. Highly Recomended.