Editing Bill Hicks (section)

==Career==
===Beginnings===
Hicks was associated with the [[Texas Outlaw Comics]] group developed at the [[Comedy Workshop]] in Houston in the 1980s.<ref name="wati1991">Staff report (April 18, 1991). 'Texas outlaw' fires from the lip. ''[[Washington Times]]''</ref><ref>Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas, Directors (2009). ''[[American: The Bill Hicks Story]]''</ref>

===California and New York===
By January 1986, Hicks was using recreational drugs and his financial resources had dwindled.<ref name=official>{{cite web |url=http://billhicks.com/Bio.html |title=Bill Hicks |first=Paul |last=Outhwaite |publisher=Bill Hicks family official site |access-date=2014-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408220210/http://billhicks.com/Bio.html |archive-date=April 8, 2014 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> His career experienced an upturn in 1987, however, when he appeared on [[Rodney Dangerfield]]'s ''Young Comedians Special''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Arp|first1=Robert|title=The Devil and Philosophy: The Nature of His Game (Popular Culture and Philosophy #83)|date=2014|publisher=Open Court Pub Co|isbn=978-0812698541}}</ref> The same year, he moved to New York City, and for the next five years performed about 300 times a year.<ref name=officialbio>{{cite web|last1=Outhwaite|first1=Paul|title=Bio|url=http://www.billhicks.com/bio.html|website=Arizona Bay Production Company, Inc.|language=en|access-date=December 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626163148/http://www.billhicks.com/bio.html|archive-date=June 26, 2018|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> On the album ''Relentless'', he jokes that he quit using drugs because "once you've been taken aboard a [[UFO]], it's kind of hard to top that", although in his performances he continued to enthusiastically praise the virtues of [[LSD]], [[cannabis (drug)|marijuana]], and [[psilocybin mushroom|psychedelic mushrooms]].<ref>See ''Sane Man'' and ''Rant in E Minor''.</ref>

He eventually fell back to [[chain smoking]],<ref>{{cite web|author=Jason Ankeny |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/bill-hicks-mn0000077267/biography |title=Bill Hicks &#124; Biography |website=AllMusic |access-date=2014-02-27}}</ref> a theme that figured heavily in his performances from then on. His nicotine addiction, love of smoking, and occasional attempts to quit became a recurring theme in his act throughout his later years.

In 1988, Hicks signed with his first professional business manager, Jack Mondrus.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Strongman|first1=Phil|title=Bill Hicks: 25 years on from the cult comedian's big break • The Register|url=https://m.theregister.co.uk/2015/07/19/feature_comedy_bill_hicks/|website=The Register|publisher=Situation Publishing|language=en}}</ref>

On the track "Modern Bummer" of his 1990 album ''[[Dangerous (Bill Hicks album)|Dangerous]]'', Hicks says he quit drinking alcohol in 1988.

In 1989, he released his first video, ''Sane Man''; a remastered version with 30 minutes of extra footage was released in 1999.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/screens/2000-06-02/bill-hicks-sane-man/ |title=Bill Hicks ... Sane Man | first= Ken| last= Lieck | work=[[Austin Chronicle]] |date=June 2, 2000 |access-date=2013-12-21}}</ref>

===Early fame===
In 1990, Hicks released his first album, ''Dangerous'', performed on the [[HBO]] special [[One Night Stand (American TV series)|''One Night Stand'']] and at [[Montreal]]'s ''[[Just for Laughs]]'' festival.<ref name=official /> Hicks was later engaged to his manager, Colleen McGarr, who booked him there.<ref>Bill Hicks | Biography, Death, & Facts - Encyclopedia Britannica</ref> He was also part of a group of American stand-up comedians performing in London's [[West End theatre|West End]] in November. Hicks was a huge hit in the UK and Ireland and continued touring there throughout 1991.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bill Hicks|url=http://www.icomedytv.com/Top-Comedians/ID/366/Bill-Hicks.aspx|website=Icomedytv.com|access-date=July 16, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703084554/http://www.icomedytv.com/Top-Comedians/ID/366/Bill-Hicks.aspx|archive-date=July 3, 2013|df=mdy-all}}</ref> That year, he returned to ''Just for Laughs'' and filmed his second video, ''Relentless.''

Hicks made a brief detour into musical recording with the ''Marble Head Johnson'' album in 1992, collaborating with Houston high school friend [[Kevin Booth]] and Austin, Texas, drummer Pat Brown. During the same year, he toured the UK, where he recorded the ''Revelations'' video<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.billhicks.com/ |title=Flash Intro Page |publisher= Bill Hicks family official site |date=December 9, 2013 |access-date=2013-12-21}}</ref> for Britain's [[Channel 4]]. He closed the show with his soon-to become-famous philosophy regarding life, "It's Just a Ride." Also in that tour, he recorded the stand-up performance released in its entirety on a double CD titled ''Salvation.'' Hicks was voted "Hot Standup Comic" by ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine in 1993.

===Hicks and Tool===
[[Progressive metal]] band [[Tool (band)|Tool]] invited Hicks to open a number of concerts in its 1993 [[Lollapalooza]] appearances, where Hicks once asked the audience to look for a [[contact lens]] he had lost. Thousands of people complied.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.fadetoblack.com/interviews/billhicks/13.html | title = It's Only a Ride: Bill Hicks Question & Answer with Kevin Booth | website= FadeToBlack.com | author = Interview with Kevin Booth|access-date = March 3, 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050829101024/http://www.fadetoblack.com/interviews/billhicks/13.html |archive-date = August 29, 2005}}</ref>

Members of Tool felt that Hicks and they "were resonating similar concepts".<ref name="austinkeenanhicks">{{Cite news| url=http://toolshed.down.net/articles/index.php?action=view-article&id=May_1997--The_Austin_Chronicle.html| title = Another Dead Hero | first= Andy| last=Langer| work = The Austin Chronicle| date = May 1997| access-date = May 29, 2007}}</ref> Intending to raise awareness about Hicks's material and ideas, Tool dedicated their triple-platinum<ref>{{cite web| last =Theiner | first =Manny | title =Concert Review: Tool's prog pleases populace | work =Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=September 28, 2006 | url =http://www.post-gazette.com/frontpage/2006/09/28/Concert-Review-Tool-s-prog-pleases-populace/stories/200609280426 |quote =...from its triple-platinum 1996 release, "Ænima."}}</ref> album ''[[Ænima]]'' (1996) to Hicks. Both the [[Lenticular printing|lenticular]] casing of the ''Ænima'' album packaging and the chorus of the title track "[[Ænema]]" make reference to a sketch from Hicks's ''[[Arizona Bay]]'' album, in which he contemplates the idea of Los Angeles falling into the Pacific Ocean. ''Ænima''{{'}}s final track, "[[Third Eye (song)|Third Eye]]", contains samples from Hicks's ''Dangerous'' and ''Relentless'' albums.<ref name="austinkeenanhicks"/><ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.ucdadvocate.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&ustory_id=f13de017-3fd8-4f74-9abd-9f3f54482961
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071007091109/http://www.ucdadvocate.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&ustory_id=f13de017-3fd8-4f74-9abd-9f3f54482961| archive-date = October 7, 2007| title = Dead 10 years, Hicks still makes us laugh| first= John| last= Zwick
| work = [[University of Colorado Denver]] Advocate| date = February 25, 2004| access-date = April 9, 2007}}</ref>

An alternate version of the ''Ænima'' artwork shows a painting of Bill Hicks, calling him "Another Dead Hero", and mentions of Hicks are found both in the [[liner notes]] and on the record.{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}}

===Censorship and aftermath===
In 1984, Hicks had been invited to appear on ''[[Late Night with David Letterman]]'' for the first time. He had a joke that he used frequently in comedy clubs about how he caused a serious accident that left a classmate using a wheelchair. [[NBC]] had a policy that no jokes about the handicapped could be aired, making his stand-up routine difficult to perform without mentioning words such as "wheelchair".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://socialistworker.org/2011/07/25/americas-outlaw-comic|title=America's outlaw comic|website=SocialistWorker.org|language=en|access-date=2020-02-03}}</ref>

On October 1, 1993, Hicks was scheduled to appear on ''[[Late Show with David Letterman]]'' on [[CBS]], where Letterman had recently moved. It was his 12th appearance on a Letterman late-night show, but his entire performance was removed from the broadcast. At that point, it was the only occasion where a comedian's entire routine was cut after taping.<ref name="Lahr">{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1993/11/01/1993_11_01_113_TNY_CARDS_000365503|title=The Goat Boy Rises|last=Lahr|first=John|date=November 1, 1993|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430075226/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1993/11/01/1993_11_01_113_TNY_CARDS_000365503?currentPage=all|archive-date=April 30, 2008|author-link=John Lahr}}</ref> His stand-up routine was removed from the show, Hicks said, because Letterman's producers believed the material, which included jokes involving religion and the [[Opposition to the legalization of abortion|anti-abortion]] movement, was unsuitable for broadcast.<ref name=Lahr/> Producer Robert Morton initially blamed CBS, which denied responsibility; Morton later conceded it was his decision.<ref name=Lahr/> Although Letterman later expressed regret at the way the situation had been handled, Hicks did not appear on the show again.<ref name= Lahr/> Hicks was undergoing chemotherapy at the time of his final ''Late Show'' appearance, unbeknownst to Letterman and most others outside of Hicks's family. He would die less than four months later.<ref>''True'', 2002, pp. 193–214</ref>

Letterman aired the censored routine in its entirety on January 30, 2009. Hicks's mother, Mary, was present in the studio and appeared on-camera as a guest. Letterman took responsibility for the original decision to remove Hicks's set from the 1993 show. "It says more about me as a guy than it says about Bill," he said, after the set aired, "because there was absolutely nothing wrong with that".<ref>{{Citation|last=Korn|first=Steven|title=David Letterman Airs the 'Lost' Bill Hicks Routine|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=February 3, 2009|url=http://popwatch.ew.com/2009/02/03/david-letterman/|access-date=January 15, 2009|archive-date=August 2, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090802095051/http://popwatch.ew.com/2009/02/03/david-letterman/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name = Letterman>{{cite news |last=Crosbie |first=Lynn |title=The Globe Review Column; Pop Rocks; A Pop-Culture Epiphany; David Letterman's Apology to Mary Hicks |newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]] |date=February 3, 2009 |page=R1}}</ref>

===Denis Leary's alleged plagiarism===
For many years, Hicks was friends with fellow comedian [[Denis Leary]], but in 1993, he was angered by Leary's album ''[[No Cure for Cancer]]'', which featured lines and subject matter similar to his own routine.<ref name="Outhwaite">{{cite book| last=Outhwaite |first=Paul |date=5 November 2003 |title=One Consciousness: An Analysis of Bill Hicks' Comedy| edition=3rd Revised| publisher=D.M. Productions |location=Houston| isbn=978-0953746132}}</ref> According to ''American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story'' by [[Cynthia True]], hearing the album had infuriated Hicks. "All these years, aside from the occasional jibe, he had pretty much shrugged off Leary's lifting. Comedians borrowed, stole stuff, and even bought bits from one another. [[Milton Berle]] and [[Robin Williams]] were famous for it. This was different. Leary had practically taken line for line huge chunks of Bill's act and ''recorded'' it."<ref name="oouuos">{{Cite book| first=Cynthia| last=True| title=American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story| date=19 February 2002| publisher=Harper Paperbacks| location=New York |isbn=978-0380803774| url=https://archive.org/details/americanscreambi00true |page=196}}</ref> As a result, the friendship ended abruptly.<ref name="evolutionBook">{{Cite book| title=Bill Hicks: Agent of Evolution| first1=Kevin |last1=Booth |first2=Michael|last2=Bertin| date=1 January 2005 | publisher=HarperCollins Publishers Canada| location=Toronto| isbn=978-0007198290}}</ref>

At least three stand-up comedians have stated on-record that Leary stole Hicks's material, and copied his persona and attitude.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://blog.joerogan.net/archives/92| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070607224107/http://blog.joerogan.net/archives/92| website=The Joe Rogan Blog |archive-date = June 7, 2007| title = Carlos Mencia is a weak minded joke thief | first = Joe|last= Rogan| publisher = JoeRogan.net| date = 27 September 2005| access-date = October 28, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | last=Crane | first=Robert |magazine=Playboy|volume=50| issue=10 |publisher=Playboy Press|location=Chicago| pages=126–128| title=''Playboy's'' 20Q: Joe Rogan |date=October 2003}}</ref><ref name="hicksfaq">{{cite web| first=Tim |last=McIntire| title=Bill Hicks: Frequently Asked Questions| publisher=Arizona Bay Production Company, Inc. |location=Little Rock|url=http://www.billhicks.com/darktimes/other/darktimes20/faq/faq.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060320081614/http://www.billhicks.com/darktimes/other/darktimes20/faq/faq.html| archive-date=March 20, 2006| date=31 March 1998| access-date=October 28, 2006|website=BillHicks.com}}</ref> In an interview, when Hicks was asked why he had quit smoking, he answered, "I just wanted to see if Denis would, too."<ref>{{Cite news|date=October 17, 2006 |first=Sabrina |last=Jalees |title=Nothing funny about joke thieves |url=https://www.thestar.com/comment/columnists/article/97129 |work=The Star |access-date=December 23, 2009 |location=Toronto |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325103754/http://www.thestar.com/comment/columnists/article/97129 |archive-date=March 25, 2009}}</ref> In another interview, Hicks said, "I have a scoop for you. I stole [Leary's] act. I camouflaged it with punchlines, and to really throw people off, I did it before he did."<ref>{{cite web
 |first       = Doug
 |last        = Stern
 |date        = April 1993
 |title       = Profile: Bill Hicks
 |url         = http://www.gavinsblog.com/probill.htm
 |work        = Austin Comedy News
 |publisher   = via Gavin's Blog
 |access-date  = October 22, 2006
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20061019105912/http://www.gavinsblog.com/probill.htm
 |archive-date = October 19, 2006
 |url-status     = dead
 |df          = mdy-all
}}. .</ref> During a 2003 [[Comedy Central Roast]] of Leary, comedian [[Lenny Clarke]] said that a carton of cigarettes from Hicks was backstage, with the message, "Wish I had gotten these to you sooner." This joke was cut from the final broadcast.<ref>{{Cite news| title=Roasting a Comic They Turn Up the Flames Gently| work=The Boston Globe| url=http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/222/living/Roasting_a_comic_they_turn_up_the_flames_gently+.shtml| archive-url=https://archive.today/20030811054820/http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/222/living/Roasting_a_comic_they_turn_up_the_flames_gently+.shtml| archive-date=August 11, 2003| date=August 10, 2003| url-status=dead| df=mdy-all}}</ref>

''American Scream'' describes an incident in the plagiarism controversy:

{{cquote|Leary was in Montreal hosting the "Nasty Show" at Club Soda, and Colleen [McGarr?] was coordinating the talent, so she stood backstage and overheard Leary doing material incredibly similar to old Hicks riffs, including his perennial [[Jim Fixx]] joke: "[[Keith Richards]] outlived Jim Fixx, the runner and health nut. The plot thickens." When Leary came offstage, Colleen, more stunned than angry, said, "Hey, you know that's Bill Hicks' material! Do you know that's his material?" Leary stood there, stared at her without saying a word, and briskly left the dressing room.<ref name="oouuos"/>}}