Bill Hicks take on HACKS ( You know who you are)

Post by **smjmcomic** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 1:57 pm

Copyed and pasted from the Fade To Black website

I know that hundreds of comics have stolen from Bill, be it material or stage persona. Going back and listening to some of Denis Leary's material you can't help but see the influence, if that is what you want to call it. I think Bill once said that he actually ripped off Denis, but to throw everyone, he just wrote the material first. How did Bill feel about comics who stole from him and especially Denis Leary who, was probably more successful than Bill at the time?

Well, I know he was annoyed by Denis Leary. One of the stories I have told before: We had just finished doing the Marble Head Johnson music album and he was performing along side with Denis Leary. Bill went somewhere with Dennis and handed him this demo tape. The next thing you know, Denis puts out an album of musical comedy. This is already after the kind of feelings that got created because of the smoking guy in the jacket.

A lot of time people are like Leary and other people think, 'I'm so sure Bill made that up.' They were right. Once again, Bill was just doing hybrids of other things, too. I think that it is just part of evolution, but these guys are two kinds of people. People that are evolving ideas and then people that are just stealing ideas and definitely Leary was one who was stealing.

"...when you have better comics who are intelligent and definitely not just because they are more popular, that would be taking his ideas, he could be flattered by it. "

I personally do not have the patience to sift through any of his material to even try and pinpoint. I hear about Leary all the time. I just know that when Bill and I were driving to go see the branch Davidian siege, he had just bought the Leary album and put it on and was just playing it and just seething, seething in a way of like, '…great, this guy is selling a zillion copies on Warner Brothers, doing all of my ideas and material…', This is what was annoying to him.

It was the same kind of thing with Andrew Dice Clay, as well. As far as all of the other comics, I don't know, it's such a grab bag. Comedy is maybe easier for people to be able to ID the music, but after my years in the music industry I can hear a band and go, "Hey wait a minute. That phrase is from that Beatles' song," and they go on "that thing sounds just like a Smashing Pumpkins turnaround," or whatever I think of. So, he was definitely aware of it and annoyed by it. But then sometimes when you have better comics who are intelligent and definitely not just because they are more popular, that would be taking his ideas, he could be flattered by it. Just kind of depending on the context and who it was and if they were trying to evolve the idea or if they were trying to steal the idea to make a buck

YouTube · Post by **Richard_Pryor** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 6:43 am

smjmcomic,
LOL_ you the comedy police? I love this-you just be bustin motherfuckers about how they rippin off-alright-go ahead and hang em out to dry on this site!!lol Love Richard!