Louis takes most of his influence from Woody Allen and Carlin.
Who is Bill Hicks? Anyone have a good Youtube link, or does he have specials on Netflix or something?
Richard Pryor
Bill Cosby
The Marx Brothers
George Carlin
WC Fields
I really don’t know too many of the current crop of comediens.
nobody can touch Dangefield (the intellectual mixed with the one line comic) and Henny Youngman
Part of the problem with judging a more classic comic’s work with a more, shall we say, contemporary comedian is someone like Henny Youngman created a fifteen minute set and didn’t really have to alter it all that much for the rest of his career.
Louis CK does an hour, hour-and-a-half long set that he completely retools every single year.
How do you compare the two?
“Who is Bill Hicks? Anyone have a good Youtube link, or does he have specials on Netflix or something?:
Get the documentary American: The Bill Hicks Story from Netflix.
Early Hicks (1990):
Late Hicks (released posthumously in 1997):
@Falderal: Whether or not CK is a valid comparison to Hicks, that really wasn’t my point. My point was that I just don’t get the idolization of Hicks at all. I don’t find him funny or insightful.
Louis CK
Daniel Tosh
Dara O’Briain
Ricky Gervais
Stephen Colbert
Tim Minchin
George Carlin
Steven Wright
Chris Rock
Woody Allen
Bill Cosby
" Anyone have a good Youtube link, or does he have specials on Netflix or something?"
What Captain says about Hicks, it happens to me with Carlin, obviously i laugh sometimes but it doesn’t make it for me even if i agree with him in plenty of stuff. But i understand his importance in stand-up history, he was there in the 70’s. Some of the things Bill Hicks says must be obvious for 20 year old people who grow up with this Internet era but it was not so obvious back then, the thing is that i have a very similar way to see life than him, so he says for me things i would like to say but i don’t know how.
I hate humanity but i love humanity.
Charles Chaplin I love to watch his comedy since I was a child. I love to watch it till now He is the best comedian ever. Till now so many people follow him. But couldn’t act like his.
captain
I don’t think i will ever understand what it is people see in Bill Hicks. I have listened to a decent bit of his material, and don’t think I’ve laughed once.
But I often hear people talk about how he is doing more than just yukking it up, but how he is a philosopher, making insights into big subjects like politics and religion. I mean, technically its possible that I have somehow only listened to his B-material, but from what I’ve heard, all of these “insights” he makes sound like the rantings of a liberal arts college sophomore at a bar at 1:00 in the morning.
The only thing I might understand as the appeal is that his audience see themselves in him. Filled with anger and bitterness, feeling smothered by a world full of commercialism and lies, and just wanting to blow off some steam about it. So sort of like the Louis CK of his day (though I can certainly see how CK would have been influenced by Hicks). But at least CK actually makes me laugh sometimes!!!
Anyways, I am in the minority, so at least on some level I think that Bill would have sympathized with me feeling frustrated about what I feel is an inferior product being forced on me :)