|
William Melvin "Bill" Hicks (December 16, 1961 – February 26, 1994) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician. His material, encompassing a wide range of social issues including religion, politics, and philosophy, was controversial, and often steeped in dark comedy. He criticized consumerism, superficiality, mediocrity, and banality within the media and popular culture, which he characterized as oppressive tools of the ruling class that keep people "stupid and apathetic". At the age of 16, while still in high school, he began performing at the Comedy Workshop in Houston, Texas. During the 1980s, he toured the United States extensively and made a number of high-profile television appearances; but it was in the UK that he amassed a significant fan base, filling large venues during his 1991 tour.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Bill Hicks Personal Life and Career )〕 He also achieved a modicum of recognition as a guitarist and songwriter. Hicks died of pancreatic cancer on February 26, 1994 in Little Rock, Arkansas, at the age of 32. In subsequent years – in particular after a series of posthumous album releases – his work gained a significant measure of acclaim in creative circles, and he developed a substantial cult following. In 2007, he was voted the fourth greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-Ups, and he maintained that ranking on the 2010 list.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 100 Greatest Comedy Stand-ups vote from channel4.com )〕 ==Early life== Hicks was born in Valdosta, Georgia, the son of James Melvin "Jim" Hicks (1923–2006) and Mary Reese Hicks, and younger sibling of Lynn and Steve. The family lived in Florida, Alabama, and New Jersey before settling in Houston, Texas, when Bill was seven.〔''Bill Hicks: Love All the People'' (Robinson Publishing, 2005), ISBN 978-1-84529-111-2, page #s?〕 He was drawn to comedy at an early age, emulating Woody Allen and Richard Pryor, and writing routines with his friend Dwight Slade. At school he began performing comedy – mostly derivations of Woody Allen material – for his classmates.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.bestcomedyonline.net/comedian-biographies/bill-hicks-personal-life-career?iframe=true&width=95%&height=95% )〕 At home, he would write his own one-liners and slide them under the bedroom door of his brother Steve – the only family member Bill respected – for his critical analysis. "Keep it up", Steve told him. "You're really good at this."〔True, C. ''American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story''. London, Sidgwick & Jackson, 2002. ISBN 0380803771. p. 12.〕 Early on, Hicks began to mock his family's Southern Baptist religious beliefs. "We were Yuppie Baptists," he joked to the ''Houston Post'' in 1987. "We worried about things like, 'If you scratch your neighbor's Subaru, should you leave a note?' "〔True (2002), pp. 10–11.〕 Biographer Cynthia True described a typical argument with his father: Hicks did not, however, reject spiritual ideology itself, and throughout his life, he sought various alternative methods of experiencing it. Kevin Slade, elder brother of Dwight, introduced him to Transcendental Meditation and other forms of spirituality. Over one Thanksgiving weekend he took Hicks and Dwight to a TM retreat, the "Residence Course", in Galveston. Worried about his rebellious behavior, his parents took him to a psychoanalyst at age 17. According to Hicks, after the first group session the analyst took him aside and told him, "You can continue coming if you want to, but it's them, not you."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bill Hicks」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|