Damn The Man, Save The Empire! is proud to present "You So Crazy," a new feature about comedy in the 90's. It was, IMHO, an incredibly fertile high watermark for American comedy, from Martin Lawrence and Def Comedy Jam ("You So Crazy" is also the title of Lawrence's 1994 stand-up comedy concert film), to agitators Denis Leary and Hicks, and the continued presence of George Carlin, all the way over to TV faves Roseanne Barr, the entire cast of "In Living Color," Margaret Cho and Rosie O'Donnell. Not to mention the third wave of SNL with Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Julia Sweeney, Phil Hartman, Chris Farley, Will Ferrell, Al Franken, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, David Spade, Norm MacDonald, Molly Shannon and Janeane Garofalo, who also appeared in the cast of "The Ben Stiller Show" (1992-1993) with Stiller, Andy Dick and Bob Odenkirk. Did I mention fellow sketch comedies "Kids In The Hall" and "The State?" Talk amongst yourselves.
On this past Friday, January 30, 2009, David Letterman aired fabulous 90's comedian Bill Hicks's last monologue on the show before his death at 31 by pancreatic cancer in 1994. Hicks was a kind of contemporary incarnation of 60's badass comedian Lenny Bruce; he railed against corporate control of American lives, urging people to be more socially conscious through the often controversial themes of his routines.
Bill Hicks found fans in 90's counterculture, including rock bands like Tool, who included artwork featuring Hicks in the liner notes of their 1996 album, Ænima, as well as quotes on the record in the song "Third Eye" from Hicks's albums "Dangerous" (1990) and "Relentless" (1992) and had Hicks open for them on the Lollapalooza tour in 1993.
Do yourself a favor and check out this monologue, then seek out anything and everything Bill Hicks that you can absorb. Your brain will thank you:
2 comments:
yes, he is the man
Bill Hicks is the truth
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