Tivo alert: Bill Hicks
Even history’s “great” comedians rarely make news after they’ve passed. Bill Hicks has been gone for 15 years, and besides a few books published about the man, nothing has been as newsworthy to Hicks fans as this.
From www.billhicks.com:
The Late Show with David Letterman has scheduled a telecast of the never-aired October 1, 1993 Bill Hicks appearance. The show was pre-taped Jan. 26th (with Bill’s mom as a guest) and will air Friday, January 30th on your local CBS affiliate. We’d like to acknowledge and thank Bill’s many fans and everyone who has had a hand in keeping Bill’s comedy and philosophy alive. We hope everyone can tune in and experience what you may have missed or what you barely remember — Bill Hicks performing for a national audience on network television.
This “never aired” segment was essentially censored by CBS. The full story is fascinating, and I particularly loved the telling of it in the book American Scream by Cynthia True. If you’re a comedy geek, you know the tale. If you’re not… well, it’s a great book to buy.
The only two guests listed as being on the show for Friday are Mary Hicks and the band Gaslight Anthem. I hope this will allow Mary and Dave to chat long enough for the average viewer to grasp exactly what is is they’re being shown. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.
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Speaking of don’t miss… the final two installments of the PBS documentary series Make ‘Em Laugh air Wednesday night. Review forthcoming!
Oh wow. What prompted this now? I hope they’ll read a few excerpts from his incredibly long hand-written rant letter of response, too. It’s odd, I got the feeling Bill Hicks was more famous and popular in the UK than he was in America, at least he was during his lifetime.