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Of all the films playing at the DIFF, the one that I wanted to see the most was American: The Bill Hicks Story. I am honored to say that I saw Bill Hicks perform about a dozen times on various Texas comedy stages. The first time I saw him take a turn behind the mike, I was just a college kid going to the Comedy Annex in downtown Houston. It was the midnight show which was always the rowdiest. After the three comics did their twenty minute sets, the MC announced that Bill Hicks wanted to come up and do a quick five minutes. He took the stage for an hour and ten minutes. It was simply the funniest show I had ever seen. I told everyone who would listen that I had seen the best comic EVER that night. That opinion has never changed. I have many cherished memories of seeing him rant and rave on a stage, always funny and always shocking. His death was the ultimate shock. But after his demise from cancer, the legend of Bill Hicks began to take off. More and more people are discovering him from his releases such as Dangerous, Relentless and Arizona Bay. American: The Bill Hicks Story is yet another step to introduce the world to this great funny man.
The film chronicles the life and legend of Hicks, starting with his childhood. We get all the standard pics and home movies of young Bill with his siblings, playing in the ocean. He meets his lifelong buddies Dwight Slade and Kevin Booth. We are taken on the highs and lows of Bill and his comedy career, from being an observational style comic in the vain of Woody Allen, to his taking on much more political material in the vein of Lenny Bruce. The film is filled with Bill on stages from the famed Houston Comedy Annex and Austin Laff Stop to being on shows hosted by Rodney Dangerfield and David Letterman. Bill was a part of the famed Outlaw Comics which included fellow angel Sam Kinison. There is the infamous last appearance on David Letterman where Bill’s set is cut by network censors. Along the way, the career takes more up and down turns than the Texas Cyclone roller-coaster. It seems that every time Bill has a step toward giant fame, he gets kicked back to the curb.
The documentary doesn’t pull any punches, discussing both Bill’s drug and alcohol problems. But it also shows how the substances sharpened his bitter wit. We see how the use of magic mushrooms cleared the head of Mr. Hicks and how his comedy evolved into a vision. Aspects of being a preacher to the flocks via comedy run throughout his life.
Directors Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas use some very fancy computer images to force the aspect of 3-D in the cinema world of American. They show both love and reverence for their subject, giving a strong and straightforward documentary without trying to explain the life. Though they serve the audience a good sample of the comedy of Hicks and how it changed over the years, they needed to give us more of his actual performances on stage. I wanted to see large chunks of standup rather than the little morsels meant more to tempt and tease than satisfy.
Even though I am very biased when it comes to Bill Hicks, American is a must see documentary. It is not an in-depth examination of a life, it is a great starting point to discover the brilliance that was Bill Hicks (something that some of us already knew).
