I consider Bill Hicks to be the greatest
stand up comedian of all time.
I have been a student of stand up for a very long time and have studied all of the greats
but when I first saw Hicks' special 'Sane Man' I knew I had found the master.
As I watched that special I knew I was watching something magical. Never before
had I seen stand up comedy performed so perfectly. Bill Hicks was an amazing
writer and comedic performer and it is a real shame he was taken from us so
early but I will always hold on to and cherish his work. As a comedian he is my
hero.
William Melvin Hicks was born December 16th, 1961 in Valdosta,
Georgia, the youngest of three children. He began preforming comedy at a young
age with his childhood friend Dwight Slade sending comedy packages to agents
which even earned them a spot on the Jerry Lewis telethon but they couldn't
perform on the show however because they were underage. Bill continued to
pursue his love of comedy and once he graduated high school he moved to LA and began working at The Comedy Store alongside Gary
Shandling, Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno.
Hicks went on to have a successful career as a stand up comic. Preforming 250-300 times a year all over the country. During his career he appeared 12 times on the Letterman show and released multiple comedy albums, and stand up comedy specials for HBO. Bill Hicks was very near breaking into superstar status here in the states, a level of fame which he had already achieved over seas, but unfortunately he died of cancer before achieving that success here in his home country.