Editing Bill Hicks (section)

===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>