DIY VIRAL
The author Robert Scucci
| Published
I can't think of a stand-up comedian more heartfelt, deeper and more volatile than the late, great Bill Hicks. After being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 1994 at the age of 32, Hicks left behind a treasure trove of dark comedy that was not only in your face, but also socially conscious and prophetic. it still resonates with die-hard comedy fans to this day. On a recent revisit The American: The Bill Hicks Story it didn't take long for me to fire up my copy of him on Tubi Reasonable Person Especially to watch the master at work, how he shouted, smoked a chain and flailed on stage like a madman with an ax, so that he would use a microphone to point out all the problems of modern America after Ronald Reagan turned the world into the “Third mall from the sun.”
A celebration of the life and times of Bill Hicks
The American: The Bill Hicks Story is a comprehensive documentary that chronicles the upbringing of Bill “The Dark Poet” Hicks and his early love for the craft of stand-up comedy, all the way to his tragic and untimely passing and everything in between. Using archival materials and interviews from relatives, The American: The Bill Hicks Story pulls back the curtain all the way back to when he was a young man looking to shake things up with his worldview that criticized 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 where we stopped fighting wars and began using our abundant resources to explore space together in peace and harmony.
That said, Bill Hicks has probably become the worst cynic you'd ever want to be around, especially in his drug days, but American: Story by Bill Hicks suggests that he was more of a disappointed optimist than anything else.
Brilliantly edited
Using stories from his parents and childhood friend Dwight Slade, The American: The Bill Hicks Story unlike any documentary I have ever seen. Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas directed and edited everything documentary film using archival footage and old photographs of Hicks. However, I'm not just talking about B-rolls that play on screen while a voice-over narrates everything like your typical documentary, but rather a style of animation that jumps off the screen almost as if the viewer is allowed to travel with Hicks as his life unfolding kaleidoscopically for all to see.
During sections American: Bill Hicks The story highlighting his drug use before adopting a sober lifestyle (although he never quit smoking or extolling the virtues of mind-altering substances), the visuals get pretty crazy as he watches a brilliant young mind struggle with his personal demons as he tries to find the voice he will eventually be known and celebrated.
Streamable 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 wants to understand why comedians hold him in such high esteem, then The American: The Bill Hicks Story must see. You may not agree with his politics (or even dislike his sense of humor) and I'm not here to push you one way or the other, but his passion for setting the stage on fire with his amazing performance makes a lot more sense as you learn. whence he came as a jaded young man who persevered in comedy as if it were his only lifeline until the day he died.
The American: The Bill Hicks Story also gets points for not being all sunshine and candy canes by retelling your life story. But when his family, friends, and creative groups recount his journey, their stories come from a place of love, knowing what a special person he really was, despite his many flaws. Bill Hicks burned bright and flew too close to the sun a few times, but every up and down throughout his career helps paint a full picture of just how ahead of his time he really was and why his voice is so sorely missed.
You can stream at the time of this writing The American: The Bill Hicks Story free on Tubi.
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DIY VIRAL
