On October 1st 1993 Bill Hicks had been scheduled to perform on The Late Show with David Letterman, in what would have been his twelfth appearance on a Letterman-fronted show. The entire performance was removed from the broadcast due to concerns by Letterman and his producer over Bill's religious jokes, though both the show's producers and CBS publicly denied responsibility. At that time it was the only occasion in which a comedian's entire routine had been cut after taping.

On the December 30 episode of The Late Show, almost fourteen years after Hicks' death, David Letterman invited Bill's mother onto the show and finally aired the footage that he now admits to censoring back in '93. Entertainment Weekly covers it, with clips, here. I'm sure some of you across the pond may have already seen it, but Hicks was hugely popular here in the UK and we don't get The Late Show (as far as I'm aware) so it's news to me.

I'm not a particular fan of Letterman but I don't hate the guy, and in my opinion it took a lot for him to own up and admit he made a mistake by cutting the routine. It must have preyed on his mind for him to feel the need to devote a chunk of his show to Bill and make up for something I doubt his audience were even aware of. It's also great to see Bill's work finally vindicated in such a way, and I found it quite moving.

- trag

I watched this recently and I'm wondering why it was not aired in the first place. Maybe I'm just desensitized but I couldn't really find anything that was really that offensive about it. I mean, didn't George Carlin rip on religion a lot too? I really don't recall ever hearing about him being censored, but then again, I guess since it was the early ninties and on a rather broadly liked show had something to do with it.

I personally never cared for Hicks (or Carlin for that matter), but I think it's good that this finally aired, even if it was a bit late.

I will admit that he did make me laugh kind of hard one time when he was insulting the Backstreet....I'm sorry, I mean the New Kids on the Block. The segment was mostly him blowing into a microphone in jest of the New Kids, *ahem*, music. Still pretty darn hilarious though, lol.

Bill Hicks was a comic genius, and David Letterman is a knucklehead.

I'd seen that Hicks routine before that goes "Do you think Jesus would really want to see another cross when he comes back?" Yah, really.

"I'm a pro-life, non-smoker!" (makes straining-on-the-toilet face) Too funny!

-- Nephele

After I posted the above reply last night, I went and watched a few more Hicks videos, and I did find them funny at times. I have a difficult time getting into stand up comedians at all really, though Bill had me really laughing at times. I also like how he was almost spiritual in his stand up at times; one person commented that while he bashed organized religion frequently, he was likely closer to how a true Christian should be than many who profess themselves as Christian. I don't know if I would go that far, but his comments on the "meaning of life" video I watched on Youtube made me respect the man quite a bit. I may not be a very big fan, but I will give honor where honor is due.

The irony is that there are quite a few atheists who may be "closer to how a true Christian should be than many who profess themselves as Christian."

Which perhaps isn't surprising when one considers that, in the first century C.E., the ancient Romans viewed Christians as being the atheists of their time.

I can easily imagine Bill Hicks living in that century, and making the excesses of mainstream polytheism the target of his humor.

-- Nephele

Perhaps, but most of the Atheist's I've met these past few years have been truly horrid people, but I guess the same can be said of some of the so-called Christians I've met and even the last group Pagans I dared to interact with. Really, though I struggle with prejudices towards Atheists on a regular basis, I have to bring myself to realize that bad people exist everywhere, in every walk of life, and that no one group should be held up as 'better' than another due to their religious beliefs (or lack of them). I'm trying to force myself to see through all that to the person inside, and judge them based on their good and bad traits and how they treat others as opposed to what religious group they allign themselves with. We all have prejudices and shortcomings, so it's sometimes difficult to put them aside in favor of honest judgement of character. Still, I try to do this to the best of my ability.

But I do agree that Bill was a pretty decent, moral person. He was harsh in his routines sometimes, but hey, thats just part of his honesty. His integrity shined through in his stand up a lot I noticed, even sometimes when he was being a bit venomous; he was just a very passionate man. I don't agree with him on things like the 'pro-smoking' views, but even I found that rather funny. Sometimes its good to laugh at yourself. I sure hope I don't sound like that when I complain about smoking, though I probably do, lol.

I was somewhat suprised to find out he was only 32 when he died. I actually thought he was older than that.

To anyone with an interest in Hicks' work I recommend the book "Love All The People". Besides transcripts of his act there's also interviews he gave, essays, poems, songs and letter's (including the one he wrote to John Lahr of the New Yorker after the Letterman incident), which give you a nice insight into the man's mind.

- trag

Unless there's some irony there I'm missing, I think you should look up the 1978 US Supreme Court Case F.C.C v Pacifica Foundation.

I think being arrested for obscenity is more serious than being censored by "corporate devil cocksuckers" (to paraphrase Hicks).

You made it clear that you weren't really into either performer so I'm not berating you but thought you may be interested in that historical detail.

I really love Hicks and think he is one of a few comedians that I find to be truly funny and truly insightful. Looking back at the stand up of the 80s and 90s, a lot of the stuff that was considered funny/edgy at the time comes off as simply juvenile or, worse, often very racist/homophobic/misogynistic/sexist e.g. Andrew Dice Clay, Sam Kinison. Check out Comedy's Dirtiest Dozen or the Rodney Dangerfield stand up specials and, to me at least, Hicks clearly shines brighter than most of his contemporaries.

I haven't seen the "lost" routine but I think there's a good chance I'm already familiar with the material. I do agree though that it was a kind and fitting gesture for Letterman to accept that he'd made an error by pandering to the sensitivities of conservative Christian groups.

Thanks for the book recommendation, trag. I'm keen to read the letter that he wrote to John Lahr.

Q:Why is Dennis Leary famous?

A: Cause there's no cure for cancer.

RIP Bill

He does kinda remind me of Kinison when he's talking sometimes. I loved Sam.