BILLHICKS-XTRA

© Frank Herrera (Palm Beach Daily News)

Critics of the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s decision to cancel photographer Robert Mapplethorpe’s “The Perfect Moment” exhibit projected images from the show on the museum’s walls in a visually striking protest, June 30, 1989.

The Corcoran School of the Arts & Design in Washington D.C. cancelled  Mapplethorpe’s homo-erotic exhibition, bowing to right-wing Christian condemnation.

Piss Christ
ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE: BANNED IN D.C.

“THE GOAT BOY RISES“
by John Lahr (The New Yorker)
One of the most enduring documents of Bill was John Lahr’s profile for The New Yorker (November 1, 1993).

After receiving a 13-page letter Bill had written passionately, the day CBS refused to air his 13th Late Night with David Letterman performance, Lahr, Bill’s friend, thought to write the story for The New Yorker.

Fortunately for all of us and comedy history, Jim Morin (Miami Herald Editorial Cartoonist) had a small cassette recorder, and from his seat in the crowd, taped Bill’s first set after his CBS censoring.

The next Thursday, at the Comedy Corner in West Palm Beach, his home club when he fell ill, he repeated the cancelled Late Night set, and then went on to describe his dysfunctional relationship with David Letterman (Late Night), from the beginning in 1984, until THE END.

Double Standards and Practices

(( 1.))  Jesus Is No Joke.

 

Bill Hicks, West Palm Beach (October 7, 1993)

(( 2.)) What’s So Funny about an Abusive Relationship?

 

Bill Hicks, West Palm Beach (October 7, 1993)

October 7, 1993 — That night, sitting with 150 others in a filled-to-capacity Comedy Corner, it was no surprise Bill started with a scathingly pointed criticism of “the way our fucked up society celebrates Easter.”

“I’ve read that book,” Bill says of the Bible. “I’ve read that book more than once, and I didn’t see the word chocolate, or bunny anywhere in it.”

Why not a fish left Lincoln Logs in my sock drawer … As long as we’re making shit up?”

“UFOs & Guns”
Bill Hicks
1990 — Late Night with David Letterman
((( ! )))

 

BILL HICKS (TRUE BELIEVER)

 

David Letterman

Scheduled to air October 10, 1993, Bill Hicks’  12th Late Night performance was cancelled by the CBS Standards and Practice officers who deemed it too offensive for Late Night‘s Middle American viewers. David Letterman had recently moved from NBC to CBS, and coincidentally, at the time, CBS was airing a series of pro-life “Christian” ads.
In what wound up to be Bill’s last David Letterman performance, he delivered, as always, a viciously honest and funny set, much of which criticized the evangelical beliefs of his parents, the beliefs drilled into him as a kid in Houston, Texas.

It was most likely that Bill’s religious views were what CBS’ “standards and practices” deemed “inappropriate.”

“Euology”
Tool
1996 — AEnima
((( ! )))

yZ.

 

Bill Hicks (“True Believer”)
— Criticizing organized religion was an obstacle to Bill’s entering the pop culture mainstream. He was recognized by Rolling Stone as the “HOT COMIC” in 1992, but he would never be the wacky neighbor on a network sitcom. Not that he ever wanted to be.
Bill Hicks (“Resurrected”)
— The year Jesus wore a mask. It was worth remembering that Bill had always preached for a separation of Church and State.
Bill Hicks (“Truth Be Told”)

Hillary Clinton (How Liberal Was She?)
Hillary Clinton, then New York Senator, co-sponsored The Flag Protection Act of 2005.
Robert Mapplethorpe’s
“PERFECT MOMENT” (Time Magazine)
Bill Hicks (xtra)

CoLors …
This is a Voyage into Sound
inst. of change [ELECTRIC GUITAR]
the players
THE INSTRUMENTS OF NOISE.
The Original Color of Sin [BLUE]

 

1991 — With Bill Hicks (CBS)
After the release of his second album, Relentless, Bill was featured on 48 HOURS, CBS’ weekly news/feature program. Bill was the subject of a segment on stand up comedians, of which he was among the best. CBS follows Bill in New York City as he prepared for a scheduled Late Night with David Letterman performance. At the time, Bill was universally praised as one of the most thoughtful comedians of all time. Brutally honest, often pornographic, and savagely funny. THE ONE BEST ABLE TO REMIND US THAT THE TRUTH HAS ALWAYS HURT.

VIDEO: (above) 48 HOURS with BILL HICKS, club hopping in New York City with David Letterman’s arrogant (ignorant), Ivy League talent coordinator, preparing for his next day’s Late Night appearance.

ALSO: Included is that night’s set, that Bill had been preparing. It was his 12th appearance with Letterman, and one of the funniest, featuring his now legendary BRINGING SHOTGUNS TO UFO SIGHTINGS “bit.”

It’s Just a Ride —

The first documentary released after Bill’s death. Produced by one of his oldest friends, Kevin Booth, the film includes much entertaining material focused on Bill, before he made it to the national stage. Balancing the project their are many interviews of Bill’s contemporaries, including Rich Jeni, Richard Belzer, Jay Leno, and David Letterman, one of Bill’s most loyal fans.
Here’s a mix of Bill’s religious material and a selection of his favorite music, including Suicidal Tendencies, King Missile and Tool (fronted by Bill’s friend Maynard James Keenan), who sampled and eulogized Bill (“Third Eye” and “Euology”) on Tool’s 1996 album, Aenima.

 

“The Story Of Willie”
King Missile (Downtown NYC)
((( apocalyptic view )))

Late Night (CBS)
david johndrow

The Last Word
Oct. 1, 1993

2009 — David Letterman’s apology to Bill Hicks’ mother, all of America, and Bill himself, for having agreed, sixteen years earlier (October 1, 1993), with CBS Standards And Practices’ decision not air Bill’s twelfth (and what was his last) Late Night performance. was inviting Bill’s mother onto the program, and show her and the 2009 Late Night audience, Bill’s (until then) unseen appearance he had made sixteen years earlier

THE LAST WORD
— The (Unaired) Letterman set, that CBS advertiser, a group of right-to-life Christians, didn’t appreciate it running alongside their message from God.

December 16, 1961 – February 26, 1994

 

Mapplethorpe’s “controversial” photography was the High-Society scandal of the day, maybe bigger than in Palm Beach, where Bill was living (and dying) at the time. A time and place where there was no shortage of salacious activities, made for Bill’s brand of social sarcasm. Christine Orcahal, The Corcoran Gallery director who had made the decision to show Mapplethorpe, stepped down after the controversy, and took the position of directing The Norton Gallery of Art in West Palm Beach. The Norton, coincidentally, was within a mile of the Comedy Corner, that Bill considered his “home” club. Palm Beach … Brother from another planet. Not the planet where a socialite, Roxanne Pulitzer, was said (in the divorce trial) was caught sleeping with her husband Peter’s collection of brass instruments, most famously, a Trumpet. An act, because it happened on “Fantasy Island,” was depicted “artistically” on the cover and inside pages of Playboy, arguably the world’s most popular “pornographic” magazine. To this day, the Roxanne Pulitzer cover remains one of Playboy magazine’s most popular…

 

1989

“Euology”
Tool
1996 — AEnima
((( ! )))

yZ.

Hillary Clinton (How Liberal Was She?)
Hillary Clinton, then New York Senator, co-sponsored The Flag Protection Act of 2005.
Robert Mapplethorpe’s
“PERFECT MOMENT” (Time Magazine)
Bill Hicks (xtra)

 

 

tool