By Robert Scucci
| Published
I can’t think of a single stand-up comedian who was more heartfelt, profound, and volatile than the late, great Bill Hicks. Having shed from his mortal coil at the ripe age of 32 after his pancreatic cancer diagnosis in 1994, Hicks left behind a treasure trove of dark comedy that wasn’t just in-your-face, but also socially conscious and prophetic to the point where it still resonates with die-hard comedy fans to this day. Having recently revisited American: The Bill Hicks Story on Tubi, it didn’t take long for me to fire up my copy of his Sane Man special to watch the master at work as he yelled, chain-smoked, and flopped around on stage like a madman with an axe to grind as he used his microphone to point out all of the problems with modern America after Ronald Reagan turned the world into “the third mall from the sun.”
Celebrating The Life And Times Of Bill Hicks
American: The Bill Hicks Story is a tell-all documentary recounting Bill “The Dark Poet” Hicks’ upbringing and his early love for the craft of stand-up comedy, all the way through his tragic and untimely passing, and everything in between. Through archival footage and interviews from those closest to him, American: The Bill Hicks Story pulls the curtain all the way back to his early days as a young man who wanted to shake things up with his worldview that was critical of religious dogma and consumerism, global militarization, and the decline of the American dream as he saw it. But beneath his cynical veneer, Hicks dreamed of a future in which we stopped fighting wars and started using our abundant resources to explore space together in peace and harmony.
That is to say, Bill Hicks may have come off as the worst kind of cynic you’d never want to hang out with, especially during his drug days, but American: The Bill Hicks Story points out how he was more of a disappointed optimist than anything else.
Brilliantly Edited
Through stories from his parents, and his childhood friend, Dwight Slade, American: The Bill Hicks Story is unlike any documentary I’ve ever seen before. Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas directed and edited the entire documentary using archival footage and old photographs of Hicks. I’m not simply talking about B-reels playing on-screen while a voice narrates the whole thing like your typical documentary, however, but rather an animation style that jumps off of the screen almost as if the viewer is allowed to travel along with Hicks while his life plays out kaleidoscopically for all to see.
During the sections of American: The Bill Hicks Story that highlight his stint with drug abuse before adopting a lifestyle of sobriety (though he never quit smoking or extolling the virtues of mind-altering substances), the visuals get quite trippy as we watch a brilliant young mind wrestle his personal demons while trying to find the voice that he would eventually be known and celebrated for.
Streaming American: The Bill Hicks Story
If you’re one of those comedy fans who doesn’t appreciate Bill Hicks’ abrasive and often bleak worldview, but want to understand why comedians hold him in such high regard, then American: The Bill Hicks Story is a must-see. You may not agree with his politics (or even like his sense of humor), and I’m not here to nudge you one way or another, but his passion for igniting the stage with his bombastic delivery makes a lot more sense when you learn where he was coming from as a jaded young man who relentlessly pursued comedy as if it were his only lifeline until the day he died.
American: The Bill Hicks Story also wins points for not being all sunshine and candy canes while retelling his life story. But when his family, friends, and creative cohorts talk about his journey in hindsight, their stories come from a place of love because they know how special of a human being he truly was despite his many flaws. Bill Hicks burned brightly and flew just a little too close to the sun on multiple occasions, but every up and down throughout his career helps paint the complete picture of how ahead of his time he truly was, and why his voice is so sorely missed.
As of this writing, you can stream American: The Bill Hicks Story for free on Tubi.
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