Truth, love and laughter

I wasn't a huge Bill Hicks fan while he was alive; I preferred the crazed irreverence of his contemporary Sam Kinison, and I thought Hicks mined some of the same territory Lenny Bruce and George Carlin already had. So I missed out on a lot of Hicks' work while he was around.

Since his untimely passing, though, I've become very fond of his humor and the man himself, who was in person a most humble and sensitive soul, and regret that I hadn't paid closer attention while he was with us. But he's never really left. His words resonate today, more clearly than ever, given the sad state of mindless consumerism, deregulation and consolidation, and creative homogenization that the nation has devolved into.

With Hicks, Carlin, Hunter Thompson and other prophets and harbingers and heralds gone, and much of the societal horrors they warned us about having come to pass, it's enough to make one contemplate the benefits of suicide. But then I remember we still have Jon Stewart, Adam Carolla, Ricky Gervais, Matt Taibbi, Craig Ferguson, Larry David and so many others, and even Paul Mooney is still speaking out, an echo of my late hero Richard Pryor... there's reason yet to carry on, to rage and to rabblerouse, and to laugh heartily when not brooding darkly.

At any rate, a new documentary, 'American: The Bill Hicks Story' is soon to be released. It looks fantastic and the time is just right for it. Here's the trailer.