Review by Doug Cooper
Featuring Bill Hicks, Dwight Slade, James Ladmirault, Mary Hicks, Steve Hicks, Lyn Hicks, Kevin Booth, John Farneti, David Johndrow, Andy Huggins, Steve Epstein
Produced by Matt Harlock & Paul Thomas
Certification UK 15 | US R
Runtime 103 minutes
Directed by Matt Harlock & Paul Thomas
Bill Hicks was an American comedian who began his career as a teenager in 1970s Texas taking the piss out of his Southern Baptist parents and family life. He quickly proved a big hit and after a time moved to LA to debut on the club circuit. Jay Leno gave him contacts and advice and he then moved on to the odd TV appearance, such as David Letterman's show. As he matured he experimented with drugs and alcohol while his comedy routines took on a more political edge. He never broke through to the front ranks in the US though but was enormously successful in Canada and the UK where his mocking of his home country delighted audiences. By this time he had cleaned up, dried out and become sober but after his success abroad he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died at the tragically early age of 32.
I say all this because I had heard of Bill Hicks but knew nothing about him. I certainly didn't know that he sold out London's vast Dominion Theatre in 1992 for example, footage of which is featured in this very entertaining documentary. His brother, sister and mother are all interviewed as well as his teenage friends who were there with him at the start of his career, plus fellow comedians from his Houston days. All of them knew him well and contribute affectionate recollections about the late comic.
Inventive use of stills and music are used in the early stages before we get to see his concert appearances. The personal tone is highly agreeable but it also would have been nice to get more of an overview of his place in the comedy firmament of the time. Was he fashionable? Were there other comedians like him adopting the same sideways stance at life? Why didn't he break through in America?
It's very persuasive – the makers clearly like their subject, and he indeed comes across as an amiable guy – but it's not particularly penetrating. As he was never interviewed we never really get to se what makes him tick. If you've little knowledge of him though, this is a likeable affair that develops nicely. And it provides an insight into a time when, all told, things seemed far more innocent.