American: The Bill Hicks Story Review

Since his untimely death at the age of 32, Bill Hicks has become something of the “comedian’s comedian”, an inspiration to anyone attempting that most difficult of art forms and a staple at college parties the world over. He regularly appears very near the top of those “Top 100” list programmes that have become so popular in recent years and is now legendary for his pro-smoking, anti-American ranting. With American: The Bill Hicks Story, British film makers Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas have attempted to get to the heart of what drove Hicks, his background, family life, everything that shaped the man and the comedian and for the most part they have succeeded.

There’s a wonderful moment near the end of the film, recalled by Hicks’ Mother, when Hicks was dying and they were spending a lot of time together. Hicks was telling her things he felt she should hear before he died and, responding with understanding and compassion, Hicks was prompted to tell her that “she is way more liberal than he realised she was.” Hicks, with his two siblings, was brought up a Southern Baptist and his early motivation for success was simply to get away. His best friend Dwight Slade recounts their early attempts at comedy. When Slade moved to Oregon, Hicks continued performing on his own and was a bona fide stand-up in his early teens. The film charts his move to L.A., his early television performances and documents his battle with alcoholism that would at first help create the Bill Hicks we all know today, but not before it almost destroyed him.

Some people are born to do what they do and there can be little doubt that Bill Hicks was born to perform comedy. Fiercely intelligent, his early comedy was filled with observations of his home and family life and while he learned his craft with this material and achieved a measure of success, he knew he was going to have to push things if he wanted the kind of success his comic inspirations like Richard Pryor had. Drugs and alcohol helped release his anger and played a large part in creating the enraged and hostile persona that became his trademark. Alcohol got the better of him however and he went through an extended period where his performances became little more than a drunk falling around on stage. Once he got sober, he was able to take what worked about that style and turn it into something hilariously didactic and vitriolic which is what made it even more cruel that just as he was peaking as a performer and gaining international recognition, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer from which he wouldn’t recover.

Directors Harlock and Thomas have an abundance of performance footage from which to choose the highlights but they make the smart choice not to overload the film with it, instead choosing snippets that express whatever particular point they are trying to make at any given time. Hicks emerged in the 80s as video was becoming popular and the directors have much grainy footage of his early shows. This gives a great sense of journey as we watch him learn his craft and develop into a consummate and confident comedian. Less abundant is footage to play over the talking heads interviews but Harlock and Thomas use animated photographs to tell the story and fill in the blanks. It’s a great device that works very well to keep the audience visually interested during the film’s slightly over long running time. They are also well served by Hicks’ friends, family and peers who provide great insight and first hand accounts of the man’s life. Conspicuous by their absence are any of Bill Hicks’ girlfriends or significant relationships but, on Simon Mayo last week, the directors explained how they were simply unable to find any of Hicks’ ex girlfriends willing to talk to them. It’s an omission that is noticeable but doesn’t destroy the film.

The latter part of the documentary is genuinely moving. His old friend Dwight makes the interesting point that a comedian’s voice should be an extension of their real selves rather than being totally fabricated. You get the sense that, for all his on stage blustering and, at times, outright abuse of his audience, this was a man who cared deeply about the things he was saying. It wasn’t front, it was genuinely felt and, most importantly, thought through and considered. The siege at Waco profoundly affected Hicks and there is amazing footage of a subsequent performance that, at least in the excerpt shown, contains little comedy. He was dying long before he told most of the people that knew him about his cancer and, indeed, continued performing until quite near his death. Hicks returned home to be with his family and you really feel the profound sense of loss his family experienced at his passing. Famously, his last ever television performance on the David Letterman show, was cut due to concern about the nature of the material. It’s in part this lack of mainstream acceptance and success that has helped ensure Hicks’ status as a “real” comedian amongst devotees. It’s interesting to speculate how the events of recent years might have raised his mainstream acceptance as Americans grew weary of George Bush and became less afraid to say so. Equally he would have been over a decade older and it’s possible the passing of time would have blunted the edge that made him the comedian he was. We’ll simply never know. In the end, like all artists who die young and at their peak, Bill Hicks is now immortalised as one of the greatest at what he did

With a subject this strong it’s difficult to go wrong but American: The Bill Hicks Story is imaginative, well crafted and predictably very funny. Avoid Prince Of Persia (which I won't be seeing or therefore reviewing by the way) and Robin Hood (which I'll get to at some point). Its release is limited but it’s well worth seeking out.

7.5/10