Thursday, January 29, 2009

friday, Friday, FRIDAY

This Friday is a very important date.

Most importantly, The Tonight Show with David Letterman is broadcasting an interview with Bill Hicks mother, Mary Hicks. Along with this, the show is FINALLY broadcasting Hicks' last ever, final television performance, and the 12th performance for the Letterman Show specifically.

Around October of 1993, Hicks gave this performance on the Letterman Show, greeted with applause and positive feedback from everyone around. Two hours later in his hotel, he received a phone call from producers saying his entire act was cut from the show due to "unsuitable material". He was the first comedian to ever be censored by the CBS studios.

The performance consisted of material that Hicks was most proud of, and was his favorite set to perform on the circuit. The Letterman Show was the only television program he wished to perform on, as he was a friend and fan of David Letterman. This was a truly devastating blow to him.

Four months later, Hicks died on February 26, 1994 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 32.

15 years later, David Letterman and the CBS studios are finally doing the right thing and airing this supposed "unsuitable" performance in its entirety. It has never been seen by anyone except for Hicks' mother, who owns the sole copy in existence. The master tapes were destroyed shortly after the set, and one copy was set aside for her; it was given to her after her son's death I believe. Bill Hicks himself never got to see the performance he was most proud of.

If you are a fan of the truth, and really wish to know the last great comedian of our time, please tune in this Friday. Tivo it, DVR it. Hell, copy it on VHS.

If you think I'm overreacting to the importance of this man...four days after his death, Carrot Top won the American Comedy Award.

Motherfucking Carrot Top. The American public is nothing but a herd of ignorant fucking sheep.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Just to help avoid anyone tuning in for the wrong show, it's "The Late Show" not "The Tonight Show"...