I agree - I know people who hold him up as being stunning, etc. (which he undoubtedly was at times) without having seen anything except the odd routine!
A bit overrated, frankly - appeals to indie schmindie no sell out types quite a bit.

>I agree - I know people who hold him up as being stunning, etc. (which he undoubtedly was at times) without having seen anything except the odd routine!
>A bit overrated, frankly - appeals to indie schmindie no sell out types quite a bit.

Would agree generally. Hicks could be spectacularly funny, and sometimes just spectacular (the last recorded stand up - I think it's called Revelation) but on the whole I think it's partly his political stance, and partly the shock value of stuff like the Goatboy routine. However, his politcal stuff is no better than Jimmy Tingle, Or Denis Leary, and his shock stuff isn't as good as say, Derek and Clive. Not that I'm saying he's crap mind, I think he's pretty good. But overrated? Probably.

Look in 'Old Topics' for a strand I started called "Bill Hicks - Sacred Cow?". Stewart Lee makes some interesting comments in it. As does Mogwai, as I remember.

Stewart Lee has used Hicks' advertising rant on his show (TMWRNJ)...basically saying that any celebrity who does an advert loses all credibility and anything else they ever say will be worthless. And then Harry Hill pops up in that stupid phone advert.

Can we assume Lee will never work with Hill again?

I will admit to thinking Hicks' was pretty much the best stand up I ever saw (not to say there are not better).

If he didn't work with anyone who's been in an advert then we'd be very limited in our choice of performers (Putner/Kennedy/Unwin spring to mind)
Surely it is only one's own responsibility whether one does adverts or not. So far both Stewart and myself have stayed true to our word, despite some lucrative offers.
We have always said that that might change if our circumstances changed (ie if we were going to die if we didn't do it or maybe doing an ad for charity or something) My attitude has certainly mellowed over the years, but I still so despise the thieves in the world of advertising that I doubt you'll see me on an ad very soon (plus no-one wants me anymore!)

Were you asked to advertise milk, Richard? Or the new Corrs album?

Sorry Richard, I don't know why I attribute the use of the Hicks' recording in your show to Stewart...probably just because he was in shot at the time (I think).

Can we look forward to 'Time Gentlemen Please' being sponsored by generic lager company then?

And how can you expect to follow 'The Strangerers'? Possibly the only programme Sky 1 has not repeated ad infinitum.

Well done Mr Herring for adopting such an anti-advertising stance. I remember seeing Stewart Lee on some Jenny Eclair thing a few years back where he said the same thing - that advertising is a betrayal of the celebrity's public image (which usually takes ages to establish). And it pays bloody good money, so anyone who can resist that gets my vote!

The Bill Hicks statement used on the brilliant TMWRNJ tv show was used by Stewart Lee I think with a cheeky glint in his eye.He agrees with Hicks sentiment but is also sending up the piety of the whole no-sellout ethos of Hicks acolytes and their ilk.
It was also taken slightly out of context as Hicks has also stressed that he would turn a blind eye to actors who are not wealthy, performing in commercials, as generally it is out of necessity , rather than greed.
If we however stood by the no sell out creed that all artists who advertise are worthless than this would include:,Orson Welles,Alfred Hitchcock,Woody Allen,The Beatles, The Who,The Doors,The Simpsons,Vic and Bob,Hancock,The Goodies etc
Bill Hicks was a one off ,not perfect , hed be the first to admit it and if he wasnt taken away so early, may have gone to greater heights.Ill take thousand Hicks to some of the opinionless,passionless clods purporting to be standups today.

As I recall it, Hicks thought that it 'could be excused' for an unknown struggling actor to make an ad. No ok, but it could be excused.

I think his words were also that whatever came from the mouths of these celebs after they made an advert would be shit to him. So we can all watch Citizen Kane and the Third Man without any moral considerations (apart from the gelatine in the film).

It's a laudable ideal, but even Hicks exploited the system. He was in negotiotions for a new series on Channel 4, before he died, which would have been paid for, interupted by, and not exist without, Adverts.

He was on The Late Show 12 times, again, to boost their ratings, to get more ads, to get more money.

But I agree, Advertising people, kill yourselves.