[kj] OT: Bill Hicks

[Brendan]

You'll need half a pound of hash, a hot summer's day and several trips in
order to make that test scientific.


>

> Inspired by all this, I've ripped both HATE RANTS IN E-MINOR by Bill

> Hicks and NO CURE FOR CANCER by Denis Leary onto my iTunes/iPod. Will

> listen to both in their respective entireties this week for a decent

> re-appraisal.

>

> Alex in NYC

>

>

>

> On Feb 1, 2009, at 7:25 PM, Darren A. Peace wrote:

>

>> I think my favourite Aristophanes line is about how rain is God

>> pissing through a sieve. Either from "Frogs" or "Clouds", can't

>> remember which.

>>

>> And I'm thankful that the "comedy is the new rock & roll" nonsense

>> was euthanised. Horrible idea, aggravated by working a while back

>> with a Jongleurs zombie who insisted on using the phrase

>> "observational comedy" in every sentence and then explaining what it

>> means, as though I were both 7 and unable to speak English. Still,

>> he liked the Steve Miller band, and I got him to go to a non-fancy

>> dress board meeting dressed as Roy "Chubby" Brown, so all ended well.

>>

>> Like Hicks (mainly for religious diatribes rather than right-on

>> boredom), think Leary is a weasel-faced also-ran who made the grave

>> mistake of involving himself in that appalling fireman TV series. Meh.

>>

>> Darren

>> Hungerford, UK

>>

>>

>> From: gathering-bounces at misera.net [mailto:gathering-bounces at misera.net

>> ] On Behalf Of Brendan Quinn

>> Sent: 31 January 2009 09:25

>> To: 'A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)'

>> Subject: Re: [kj] OT: Bill Hicks

>>

>> I think people taking comedy seriously has something to do with the

>> ancient role of the court jester, poking fun at the King etc. Like

>> Jaz & BPF mentioned in that brief interview that went around a while

>> ago. We expect them to amuse us, but there’s also that angle of

>> social critique. Challenging values and challenging authority. With

>> the better comedians that is

you’re not really gonna get it from

>> Larry the Cable Guy, or Seinfeld (but you *might* from Larry David).

>> Christ if I remember back far enough (Classical Studies at school in

>> ‘91) there was a Greek slave comic playwright who took the piss out

>> of those in power, Aristophanes

and even though he was a slave who

>> viciously & publicly ridiculed those in power, he got away with it

>> because he did it with great humour. It’s hard to feel outrage about

>> something when an entire auditorium is cracking up about it...

>>

>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristophanes

>>

>> So elevating a comic who challenges the status quo to heroic

>> proportions isn’t anything new.

>>

>> Hicks always said he attacked things that offended his sense of

>> reason, and after hearing that and going back over his stuff, it’s

>> quite a theme. Not that it’s anything unique in comedy. But the

>> extent to which he’s worshipped, I stand by it - hence the staunch

>> defence, 15+ years after the event. No one has ever made me laugh as

>> hard and at the same time articulated a sense of outrage at the

>> primitive state of civilisation. Basically take your peak

>> experiences with whatever art or literature or whatever that has

>> really elevated your consciousness, that’s how it felt for me,

>> listening to Hicks for the first time. So yeah, he’s up there with

>> Hendrix and Robert Anton Wilson and Soundgarden and my other heroes,

>> but not because of some cult of personality or posthumous popularity.

>>

>> And I can forgive the bits where he goes over the top, to the same

>> extent I forgive Jaz for the same. Seems to go hand in hand with

>> ‘being out there’.

>>

>> From: gathering-bounces at misera.net [mailto:gathering-bounces at misera.net

>> ] On Behalf Of Brendan Quinn

>> Sent: Saturday, 31 January 2009 19:44

>> To: 'A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)'; 'Alex Smith'

>> Subject: Re: [kj] OT: Bill Hicks

>>

>> Oh no how’d we get into this? I thought I was raising an in joke

>> between Ade and me re SG vs STP to a) illustrate how I felt about

>> Hicks vs Leary, and b) make sure that it was taken light-heartedly



>>

>> From: gathering-bounces at misera.net [mailto:gathering-bounces at misera.net

>> ] On Behalf Of ade

>> Sent: Saturday, 31 January 2009 08:40

>> To: Alex Smith; A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)

>> Subject: Re: [kj] OT: Bill Hicks

>>

>> > PS: Soundgarden is, was, and e'er shall be LIGHT YEARS better than

>> STP.

>>

>> I'm sure they are mate, but how do I *make* myself like Soundgarden

>> & not like STP ?  What I actually said was that I preferred STP is

>> all. I'm supposed to be wrong, how?

>> -----Original Message-----

>> From: gathering-bounces at misera.net [mailto:gathering-bounces at misera.net

>> ]On Behalf Of Alex Smith

>> Sent: 30 January 2009 21:09

>> To: ade; A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)

>> Subject: Re: [kj] OT: Bill Hicks

>> I saw Leary perform 'No Cure for Cancer' live in a tiny club in the

>> West Village, thanks.

>>

>> Hicks is funny, but has since become deified to ridiculous degrees.

>> Also, Hicks had a tiresomely sanctimonious quality to his work which

>> made me enjoy it less than Leary's.

>>

>> My opinion.

>>

>> Alex in NYC

>>

>> PS: Soundgarden is, was, and e'er shall be LIGHT YEARS better than

>> STP.

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> -----Original Message-----

>> From: ade

>> Sent: Jan 30, 2009 3:30 PM

>> To: Alex Smith , "A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)"

>> Subject: RE: [kj] OT: Bill Hicks

>> I get the feeling you've not actually seen the material that I argue

>> (amongst many others) Leary

>> clearly ripped from Hicks. In that case, how can you pass judgement?

>>

>> I loved Leary's 'No Cure for Cancer', until I got into Hicks. I

>> couldn't believe I was hearing the

>> same jokes VERY DISTINCTIVE jokes being repeated right back at me -

>> that totally destroyed

>> No Cure for cancer for me.

>>

>> Keep your fingers in your ears, it's only my opinion.

>> -----Original Message-----

>> From: gathering-bounces at misera.net [mailto:gathering-bounces at misera.net

>> ]On Behalf Of Alex Smith

>> Sent: 30 January 2009 18:38

>> To: A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!); 'A list about

>> all things Killing Joke (the band!)'

>> Subject: Re: [kj] OT: Bill Hicks

>> The perils and ramifications of smoking aren't really "niche"

>> material. You may not like Dennis Leary -- fair enough -- but to

>> accuse him of ripping off Hicks in that capacity is pretty unfair.

>>

>> Alex in NYC

>>

>> -----Original Message-----

>> From: Brendan Quinn

>> Sent: Jan 30, 2009 12:46 PM

>> To: "'A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)'"

>> Subject: Re: [kj] OT: Bill Hicks

>> We were comparing them because they covered similar material, that

>> I’m pretty sure Hicks came up with and Leary stole. Specifically the

>> voicebox gag. I could be wrong, but that’s the accusation.

>>

>> From: gathering-bounces at misera.net [mailto:gathering-bounces at misera.net

>> ] On Behalf Of Alex Smith

>> Sent: Saturday, 31 January 2009 03:59

>> To: A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!); 'A list about

>> all things Killing Joke (the band!)'

>> Subject: Re: [kj] OT: Bill Hicks

>>

>> You seem to be equating them merely on the fact that they're both

>> "angry" comedians. That's not much to go on. I mean, why not toss

>> Don Rickles into the mix too, then?

>>

>> Alex in NYC

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> -----Original Message-----

>> From: Brendan Quinn

>> Sent: Jan 30, 2009 10:31 AM

>> To: "'A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)'"

>> Subject: Re: [kj] OT: Bill Hicks

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> Not a fair comparison

because?

>>

>> From: gathering-bounces at misera.net [mailto:gathering-bounces at misera.net

>> ] On Behalf Of Alexander Smith

>> Sent: Friday, 30 January 2009 23:15

>> To: A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)

>> Subject: Re: [kj] OT: Bill Hicks

>>

>>

>> Dennis Leary is rarely as earnest and sanctimonious as Bill Hicks

>> was capable of being. I love both, but it's not really a fair

>> comparison.

>>

>> Alex in NYC

>>

>>

>>

>> On Jan 30, 2009, at 1:34 AM, Brendan Quinn wrote:

>>

>>

>> Let Hicks=Soundgarden, and Let Leary=Stone Temple Pilots

>>

>> If Soundgarden=TotalGodheadOnEarth and STP=BigFatYawn, then Leary=?

>>

>> Please show working.

>>

>> From: gathering-bounces at misera.net [mailto:gathering-bounces at misera.net

>> ] On Behalf Of ade

>> Sent: Friday, 30 January 2009 07:24

>> To: A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)

>> Subject: Re: [kj] OT: Bill Hicks

>>

>> LOL, don't forget Denis Leary ;)

>>

>> From wikipeedo: 'an industry joke began to circulate about Leary's

>> transformation and subsequent success (roughly; "Question: Why is

>> Denis Leary a star while Bill Hicks is unknown? Answer: Because

>> there's no cure for cancer"'

>> -----Original Message-----

>> From: gathering-bounces at misera.net [mailto:gathering-bounces at misera.net

>> ]On Behalf Of Brendan Quinn

>> Sent: 29 January 2009 04:57

>> To: 'A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)'

>> Subject: Re: [kj] OT: Bill Hicks

>> The only other comedians I’d put in that category (and none as good

>> as Hicks) would be George Carlin, and lately, Joe Rogan, who’s a

>> surprising find actually.

>>

>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grcqs9cDuN8

>>

>> PS: I haven’t watched this in ages so apologies if it sucks, but

>> from memory it’s pretty cool.

>>

>> From: gathering-bounces at misera.net [mailto:gathering-bounces at misera.net

>> ] On Behalf Of Bette Dillinger

>> Sent: Thursday, 29 January 2009 12:34

>> To: gathering at misera.net

>> Subject: [kj] OT: Bill Hicks

>>

>>

>> Hey everyone!

>>     Strange, angering, yet I am still gonna try to catch it.  In the

>> US David Letterman will be showing on Friday, the 30th, 11:30 EST

>> the routine of Bill Hicks' that was never aired by Letterman in 1994

>> because it was considered too "controversial".  The routine that

>> sullied his relationship with the media to a degree.

>>

>> His mother Mary will also be a guest (the irony that the legal

>> executor of the estate is the ex attorney for Billy Ray Cyrus, but

>> then you can't make this shit up.).........

>> Damn, it has been 14 years!  Are there any comedians that are flying

>> under the radar that should be checked out?  I am still looking for

>> one whose voice is so resonant with truth and humour.

>>

>> Bette

>> size=2 width="100%" align=center>

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>> it out.

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