they go to a denis leary show and do it without knowing

because he's angry and self-righteous, and people think that means he is talking to power and all that, but actually he was a bit disgusting sometimes and his routine isn't actually clever or that funny if you aren't into all the shouting and 'religious people are RE-TARDS!!!!' rubbish. i mean especially now that seems so immature and boring, but maybe it was a little more notable in 1990.

because tool told them to

Because I live in an area with a lot of stupid religious conservatives and a lot of what he says is what I've been thinking for ages. If you did not grow up in such an area and you aren't a fan of angry humour I would understand your disapproval.

Because I live in an area with a lot of stupid religious conservatives and a lot of what he says is what I've been thinking for ages. If you did not grow up in such an area and you aren't a fan of angry humour I would understand your disapproval.

nah man

even growing up somewhere where it's nothing but religious conservatives, that doesn't make humor about them automatically funny.  i can't stand humor that consits of HEH...CHRISTIANS AND THEIR DUMB BELIEFS....or MAN....DID YOU KNOW RIGHT-WING NUTJOBS ARE CRAZY?  it doesn't matter if i agree or not, it's annoying.

i grew up in lynchburg va. pretty much one of the most conservative/religious cities in the entire united states

bill hicks can suck my big ole donkey dick

Yeah, that was too general. It more adds to why I enjoy his stuff rather than defines why I do.

I don't really have a good answer. I think with comedians you either think they're funny or complete talentless hacks. It's hard to explain why you find someone funny, ya know?

Yeah, I can't stand Bill Hicks. He's not a comedian. He's a commentator, or something like that. And it was never funny or entertaining. Like someone else mentioned, it's just a lot of "RELIGIOUSN PEOPLE ARE DUMB".

if you really like stewart lee and louis ck then your problems with bill hicks aren't the same as my problems with bill hicks and this is a weird topic.

stewart lee grew up in my town. true story

I just watched his bit on marketing etc on youtube and, uh. It was definitely selfrighteous etc and not too clever and in a lot of cases I think it probably feeds into some awful smug worldview of you know sheeple working for the Man and the snarky freethinkers who oppose them and so on buuuuuuut at the risk of becoming apologist I don't want to dismiss all that stuff on the basis of UGH. . . HOW GAUCHE either because it's basically idealistic / GIVING A FUCK. It's important to give a fuck!! I wish I gave more of a fuck about things!! I mean the problem with adolescent rebellious trappings etc is that it uh can kind of solidify into just ego bullshit and obnoxiousness but I kind of distrust the idea that the only alternative to this is an equally obnoxious affectation of world-weary "realism". Heh of course you're gonna be marketed to, welcome to the real world kid.... Sigh of course the music you like will be used to sell cars, stop embarrassing yourself and get used to it.
I'm not particularly trying to defend fairly trite gestures of rebellion or whatever but I do think it's a little too easy to fall into DETATCHED INTERNET PERSONA where any level of enthusiasm or passion or interest beyond a vague preference is seen as basically embarrassing and yep gauche. I know I do this a lot semiinstinctively and it's a pretty disgusting habit. So uh yeah basically I don't want to completely throw away Bill Hicks yet, or the Dead Kennedys or Fight Club or some of the other shit we thought was soooo incredible lol when we were sixteen, because beyond the gross teenage rebel garbage there was still some sense of maybe idealism and yeah selfrighteous anger which I don't want to lose. Beyond teenage selfrighteousness and collegiate smug realism . . . lies the Shadow.

edit: idk about funny though but i never find standup funny so! i am a droid boop boop boop

I never listened to bill hicks. that youtube was ok until it got to the waffle house

I've been noticing a lot of comedians like hicks seem to feel the need to adopt these dumb and kinda offensive stances on everything, and I dunno if they actually think that way or they're just trying to be funny or what. carlton and louis ck do the same shit and it isn't original or funny at all. I don't think louis ck is as dumb as he acts, but I don't really have a good reason for believing this other than the dumb humor is all you hear people repeat and seems to be his main claim to fame and money. I don't even like louis idk I kinda just wish he was more likable

i have difficulty watching bill hicks now because glenn beck stole his presentation and ruined it

bill hicks was better contextually. his counter-sensationalist presentation was more timely and relevant in the late 80s, early 90s, but that sort of thing really turns people off now. i think his presentation would have changed substantially had he lived longer, which is usually the case with comedians like that. i really don't think we got to see him at anywhere near his best, which is the tragedy. i feel like he could easily reached that george carlin level of comedy(which took him a long time himself to reach) where you really need to have something wrong with you to not get it.

that said, i like his ideas a lot and find his convictions refreshing while being still timely and relevant. he had a pretty good idea of the problems of this world, which isn't something i can really say with confidence about too many(any?) active comedians. he was really a very fearless comedian, probably as much as any i've ever seen. it's a little outdated now, but there's something to be said for that.

he was funny and told funny jokes

you just gotta remember how dumb things were in the US during the 80's and 90's. His routine hasn't really aged well but if you have any connection or memories of the cultural decay of those times/places he refers to then he makes a lot more sense. He was saying a lot of things that you didn't hear often back then(the internet wasn't what it is today, the only mention of drugs in comedy were buffoonish weed jokes or pryor's sad/funny crack stories, etc) so its pretty difficult to communicate how subversive he was.

I never listened to bill hicks. that youtube was ok until it got to the waffle house

I've been noticing a lot of comedians like hicks seem to feel the need to adopt these dumb and kinda offensive stances on everything, and I dunno if they actually think that way or they're just trying to be funny or what. carlton and louis ck do the same shit and it isn't original or funny at all. I don't think louis ck is as dumb as he acts, but I don't really have a good reason for believing this other than the dumb humor is all you hear people repeat and seems to be his main claim to fame and money. I don't even like louis idk I kinda just wish he was more likable

Louis CK isn't dumb. If you watch his interviews he explains that every time he makes a silly overblown self-righteous complaint about some other person's stupidity/impatience/etc. he's talking about himself in a cloaked self-critical way and making up the part about the other person which makes him a little more endearing to me. He likes to run with absurd/offensive banal little thoughts and is pretty good at making funny critiques of everyday life while having fun with a self-mocking presentation of the "self-righteous comedian" cliche.

this topic is going to get gw killed