Would Bill Hicks be successful today or even tolerated?

[cabot]

I don't know. He was one of my favourites.

[oberliner]

1. Sure, why not?

[cabot]

2. Well, his humour was intelligent

There seems to be a severe lack of intellectualism in today's society. I don't know. I'm just thinking out loud. A lot of comedians today do not seem very funny. Maybe I'm just getting old. LOL. But I remember when Hicks, Carlin, were quite popular. I don't know if they would be popular today. Everything is either too lowbrow or too sanitized or too cruel. It's just disappointing.

I need to go shake my fist at a cloud right now.

[betsuni]

7. George Carlin was going to do an HBO show in 2001, "I Kinda Like It When a Lot of People Die":

"If I confess my secret to you, I would hope that you not judge me -- not think of me as a bad person. Maybe many of you, if the truth were known, would have to make the same confession. Here it is: I kinda like it when a lot of people die. I really do. I can't help it. It makes me feel really good.

"... Every time there's a big disaster, I always wish it were bigger. I always wish it happened in rush hour, and -- forgive me for this, but ... near a school? Or a hospital? Or a nursing home? I apologize if that bothers you. I know some of you will say, 'Well, you'd feel different if someone close to you were killed in some big disaster.' I'd say, 'No, I wouldn't.'"

There was time to change it after 9/11, but if there hadn't...

[oberliner]

8. I think there are comedians like him out there

What about Patton Oswalt?

[cabot]

9. True

I'd forgotten about Patton Oswald. Thanks.

[rownesheck]

3. I love Bill hicks.

But, I've thought the same thing myself. Some of his jokes would not go over very well now unless he dropped them or changed some of the language. I like to think that he would evolve. I mean a lot of his ranting was about waiting for people to evolve.

Some of my favorites:

When a certain crowd seemed to not be laughing: "y'all are about to win the election for the worst fucking audience I've ever faced, ever, ever, ever!"


Or when talking about his new show on CBS: "it's called 'let's hunt and kill billy ray cyrus.' "

[cabot]

4. LOL

Yes, I remember the "Let's Hunt and Kill Billy Rae Cyrus" bit. It was to be followed by "Let's Hunt and Kill Michael Bolton." I believe the Christmas special involved Vanilla Ice, Marky Mark, and someone else...MC Hammer? Can't remember.

[blogslut]

5. Did he masturbate in front of female comics and then threaten their careers?

[cabot]

6. I'm not comparing him to Louis CK

I just think he might be too smart for today's world. It seems like people are devolving, and it is disappointing. Trump is president. Brexit. Andrew Scheer seems to be popular in Canada. This has nothing to do with Louis CK, Ricky Gervais, etc. I don't know if smart humour would be commercially popular in 2019.