American Scream : The Bill Hicks Story - Softcover

Cynthia True

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0330438069 ISBN 13: 9780330438063

Publisher: Pan Macmillan, 2005

Synopsis

When 32-year-old Bill Hicks died, he had been taking Britain by storm and was on the brink of fame in his own country, 'the United States of Advertising'. Cynthia True has produced a sensitive and compelling biography of the man who brought radical philosophy and rock 'n' roll to the comedy stage. Angry with the establishment, Hicks was a passionate advocate for individual freedom. He was also a man seeking enlightenment, one who believed that life is 'just a ride'. Formerly a vegetarian yoga devotee, Hicks developed a heavy smoking habit and acted as a drugs evangelist as his gigs got more popular and more dangerous. He cleaned up only months before he died from the pancreatic cancer that he had, with unsettling prescience, for years been imagining as an alien sensation in his left side. Petty censorship incensed him; never more so than when he was famously axed from the Letterman show following a tirade of pro-life and Pope digs. Hicks' response was typical: 'Why are people so afraid of jokes?'

About this title

About the Author

Cynthia True, former comedy correspondent for Time Out New York , has also written for Glamour, Rolling Stone and Harper's Bazaar.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Biographies rarely capture the uniqueness and vitality of a performer as deftly as this hilarious and touching chronicle of the short life of maverick comedian Bill Hicks. Rebelling from a rigid south Texas upbringing, Hicks focused his fury into a controversial career of ranting against all hypocrisy, from the Christian right's to that of hack entertainers, particularly shallow comedians, and the censorship of his act on David Letterman. True makes a strong case for Hicks as heir to Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor, putting hard truths in the guise of humor in a desperate attempt to educate and convert. Rather than seeming a martyr, however, Hicks comes across as a deeply, perhaps dangerously sensitive man blessed with extraordinary wit and a profound sense of justice, who tried night after night to work through his doubts, fears, and, of course, anger. The audience in many of the book's admirably constructed performance scenes seems to be simply along for the ride, with no idea of its ultimate destination, alternately laughing uproariously and sitting in bewildered silence. True shows great restraint in unfolding Hicks' story, often allowing his words to speak for themselves and demonstrating a vital sense of comic timing herself. After a moving account of Hicks' death from pancreatic cancer at 32, she concludes, "Four days later, Carrot Top won the American Comedy Award." Bill Hicks would have laughed. Will Hickman
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About this edition

• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0330438069
• ISBN 13: 9780330438063
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256