American: The Bill Hicks Story
Blu-ray | DVD
Directed by Matt Harlock, Paul Thomas
Starring Kevin Booth, John Farneti, Bill Hicks, Lynn Hicks, Mary Hicks
BBC Warner
Release Date: June 7, 2011

Welcome America, welcome to Bill Hicks. You may have heard of this guy. We have.

And by that I mean we, English.

Not to get on my high-horse about this, but I feel somewhat proud that Bill Hicks adopted the UK as his second home, a place where his comedy seems to fit. His popularity in 1991 was evident at the peak of his career whilst filming for the iconic stand-up tour Revelations at the Dominion Theatre in London. His cynical approach and opinion on current matters and affairs that informed his comedy, cloaked in a riding coat and hat, he grieved that the death of the American Dream became too uncompromising and conflicting for the U.S. He grieved to the English people, the outsiders to the Americans.

And so, after his passing in 1994, his star could have waned. Extinguished and forgotten. He was on the verge of wider success, with interest from British TV in the works, when he fell ill with terminal cancer. But he didn’t, thanks to his effortless comedy stylings and timeless subject matter that still resonates today especially when you tie together the political climate of the late 1980s, early 1990s, and the scary similarity with ol’ Dubya… which has made it’s way online to YouTube… where it has faced new and greater audiences and will continue to do so. I would love to say more on the guy – but I implore you to discover for yourself, his words say enough, and you’ll find out more below…

Continue reading after the jump for an interview with Bill’s brother Steve Hicks.