7. Bill Hicks
A man taken from this world far too young Bill Hicks was very important in terms of American comedy due to his political and religious ideology which really stood out. He was pro smoking and pro Marijuana, pro-life and firmly against fundamentalist Christians. He was standing up for intelligence at a time when America seemed to be going backwards Bill was something different in terms of stand-up comedy. Im too young to have ever fully watched Bill when he was alive but Ive watched countless hours of footage of him and I find him a genius. His tone and the way he talked to a audience not compressing his ideals or his language and content without caring what others thought of his logically ideas. The jokes were always well told and had some thought behind them making a crowd that understood them roar with laughter Watching him laugh at anti-smoking people while puffing away or pointing out how stupid certain Americans are, one of his favourite stories was about a waffle house waitress from Texas who saw him reading a book and amazingly asking him what are you reading for? Bill was one of the first comedians to talk on pro drugs telling his crowd how good weed was and how it should be mandatory while the war on drugs played out around him. Bill went from crazy religious nuts too pointing out how stupid they were for believing in a god of peace and love but showing it with violence and ignorance to other people. He clearly enjoyed pointing out how serious people take their religion and how silly some of the rules and ideas are. Bill loved to attack the established order and the first President Bush was often a constant source of his on stage rants. His most famous political bit of cutting satire was is routine on the Waco tragedy which Bill actually went and filmed live. He used it on stage and showed in clear detail where the public was lied to in the news and by the ATF. Stuff like that makes him more than just a silly clown telling jokes but more like a man trying to teach and show people some of the unbelievable stupidly that happens in the world. His straight talking got him in a lot of trouble and banned from certain shows but Bill had audiences that loved the way he talked on stage making them laugh. Bill stood behind his words no matter how controversial they were or how funny he could make even the most serious subject. Bill Hicks is one of the best comics that ever lived and his material and jokes still stand up today long after his tragic death.