If you don't think drugs have done good things for us, then take all of your records, tapes and CD's and burn them just one of the many great, hilarious, insightful and provocative lines to come from the mind of
Bill Hicks. The outspoken stand-up and satirist - widely regarded as the comedians comedian - was under appreciated in his time. Inspired by Woody Allen and likened to a latter day Lenny Bruce, he received neither the accolades, infamy nor celebrity of the aforementioned fellow comedians; his subversive humour that challenged mainstream beliefs and encouraged people to think for themselves was out of place with 1980s American comedy when he was at his most prolific, and failed to engage with the American public. The 90s saw Hicks branching out abroad; he stole the show at the prestigious Just for Laughs Festival in Canada, before finding fame and adoration in the UK. The 90s also saw a change in style of comedy in America, with left wing, anti-establishment, dissident humour increasing in popularity, which was suited to Bills oeuvre. Sadly he died of pancreatic cancer in 1994 at the tender age of 32, never able to revel in a time period that would have embraced him. Yet in his wake he has been subject to the kinds of praise and admiration that eluded him in life; he regularly tops greatest ever stand up comedian polls and has cult followings of fans from all over the world, including America. And now for the first time, thanks to the combined efforts of filmmakers
Matt Harlock and
Paul Thomas, and their investment of four years of blood sweat and tears into a labour of love, we have a personal recounting of Hicks life from the people who knew the real Bill Hicks his family, friends and close comedy contemporaries in the form of '
American: The Bill Hicks Story'.
The filmmakers made a very strong choice when making the piece, which could be perceived as a weakness in comprehensive coverage of the mans life, but actually is a great strength of the piece, and also to the filmmakers credit. Much like a screenwriter decides whose story he is going to tell and what dialogue he wants to leave unsaid, Harlock and Thomas decided during filming they would tell this story entirely from the perspective of those who were personally with Bill at the different times in his life. Therefore when we begin and recap Bills upbringing in Houston Texas, the only people we hear from are his family and friends at the time. When he starts performing at fourteen and sneaks out of his bedroom window to a comedy club, it is told from the perspective of his friends and fellow comedic aspirers
Kevin Booth and
Dwight Slade. When he takes the gamble and moves to Hollywood we hear from
Andy Huggins and other members of the Comedy Store who worked with him there. When he fails and moves back to Texas we have his parents perspectives again and then when he returns to the comedy club in Houston we meet a whole host of comedians who performed with him there. This is a great approach because it keeps the details first hand and personal; it is not people retelling stories that theyve heard from someone else, or academics repeating information we have heard before and indeed could read on the internet. The possible flaw of this is that we miss out on the respect and praise that fellow professionals like
Jay Leno, David Letterman and
Woody Allen have expressed for Bill and his comedy. Or anything about his friendship and feud with
Dennis Leary. However, those subjects are written about and on other documentaries, and do not fit the cohesive of this piece.
The revolutionary element of the documentary that draws you into the story as it were an animated or live action film is the use of a technique the filmmakers are calling documation or the photo animation technique where they use photographs of Bill, family and friends and use them to animate the stories that are being discussed by the people in Bills life. For example, when his parents are talking about moving from New Jersey to Huston when Bill was a kid, we see photographs of young Bill and his family, superimposed inside a car, and they travel across an animated America. Its a technique I have not seen used so consistently throughout a documentary and is extremely effective to give movement and spectacle and make the piece cinematic. I have no doubt this will prove to be a seminal documentary in this respect. The piece is a triumph in almost every respect and presents Bill as a flawed, rounded and extremely gifted and deep human being, deserving of every accolade and piece of praise that can be awarded to him posthumously. So with that said, I think I will allow Bill to help me close this review. I left in love, in laughter, and in truth, and wherever truth, love and laughter abide, I am there in spirit. They are all present in this documentary; and thus so is the great man himself.
EXTRAS
The filmmakers have outdone themselves and spoiled us with this treasure trove of over 5 hours of extra material. The three hours of extended interviews with family and friends, plus deleted animation scenes allow us to further delve into the life of Hicks and fill in some gaps that die-hard fans that have read every book and article written about Hicks might question the omission of from the main film. There is also over thirty minutes of until now unseen footage from Bills career. Its not all golden material, and some of it is rather dark, but it is still exciting and refreshing to see Hicks that you havent seen before. Look at it as new material and youre set. Most fascinating are Bills personal audio journals, which are a mix between interviews of Bill at various points of his life and tape recordings he did of himself. As usual they are filled with great humour, observations, but also show the sad, lonely and in the case of the 1981 recording Hicks did when he was living in LA, a depressed, desperate, vulnerable and confused soul. When he says, I havent had new material in months! Which is terrible for me living out her by myself, because without that I have got nothing! I am a bum! you feel every emotion come from his voice.
American: The Bill Hicks Story is available on
DVD and
Blu-ray right now.