I’m convinced some of us don’t know that Dennis Leary stole a lot of this material from Bill Hicks.

[-]

Dismal_Explorer_702@reddit

When I first saw no cure I was a teenager and I thought it was the funniest fucking thing I'd ever seen. I watched it so many times I memorized it. Then a decade or so later some streaming service had bill hicks' stuff and I watched all of it. Imagine my disappointment. It's all the same shit. And the majority of it was from one special. Still love leary though. His other shit is funny too. I think

[-]

goofyboots0722@reddit

"Whatchu reading fer"?

[-]

Financial-Roll2213@reddit

Even the coffee flavored coffee bit? 😲

[-]

Material-Ad9952@reddit

I mean, he threw Smalls a curveball when he knew he’d never caught a baseball before…just a bad seed all around

[-]

MydniteSon@reddit

"I have a scoop for you. I stole his act. I camouflaged it with punchlines, and to really throw people off, I did it before he did.” - Bill Hicks

[-]

Khorre@reddit

Why does Denise Leary have a career and no one knows Bill Hicks? There is No Cure for Cancer.

[-]

AandJ1202@reddit

Wooooww. That's fucked. Lol.

I think Hicks would have liked it. Dennis Leary was medicore at the peak of his career. He got bigger off that fire fighter drama than he ever did with comedy. Hicks wasn't around long enough, unfortunately

[-]

SpaceBowie2008@reddit

Denis Leary is in Judgement Night, a very little known but awesome movie that was released the same time this album was released. I highly suggest you guys check it out if you have not already.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107286/

[-]

LoquaciousTheBorg@reddit

Barely remember the movie but I remember having that soundtrack.

[-]

CosmicTurtle504@reddit

He was excellent in “The Ref,” too. One of my favorite holiday movies! And I really enjoyed Rescue Me. I lived in NYC at the time the show aired, and it really captured a lot of what New Yorkers were going through at that time.

[-]

Opening_Success@reddit

And Suicide Kings as well. He actually does drama better than comedy.

[-]

MrPickles196@reddit

Agreed. Hicks career went nowhere after he died.

[-]

joshhupp@reddit

Leary was famous way before that. I feel like he used comedy as a launching pad for his acting career

[-]

red_team_gone@reddit

Another dead hero.

Also my oldest friend and I bonded over no cure for cancer... He had a Walkman with speakers on it, so we listened to it walking home from Jr high in 93.

[-]

theclansman22@reddit

Watching Greg Giraldo tear Leary apart on Tough Crowd is a great watch, I hate Dennis Leary.

[-]

ornery_epidexipteryx@reddit

As a huge Hicks fan- I hated this albulm… then I started listening to Kinison… and wow… just wow. Kinison and Hicks did the Texas area together, but Kinison hit the big time in California. So much of Kinison’s material is evident in Hicks… no way to know though, everyone who could comment on it is dead🙁

[-]

sleeperninja@reddit

Patton Oswalt was starting up as part of Bill's late tours, and showed a lot of gratitude for his influence on him. He did a recorded set that was VERY Bill Hicks. Probably around the time his wife died? I don't remember what it was called, though.

[-]

Disastrous_Basis3474@reddit

Back in the 80s and 90s, some comedians who toured the clubs together would sometimes agree to trade each other’s material for a night because they were getting bored and it gave them a change. The audience had no idea, and probably wouldn’t care anyway. They were just there for booze and laughs. I can’t remember if I saw this in a video or if an older retired comedian I used to know said it.

[-]

RunAwayBeerTruk@reddit

Hard to believe Sam and Richard Pryor are from the same area of Illinois. The number of comedians being spokesperson and selling crap today would have Bill spinning in his grave.

[-]

syngestreetsurvivor@reddit

Sam used to be a street preacher at the corner of Clark and Belmont in Chicago. He went to Bible school to become a pastor. Probably why his delivery was so epic.

[-]

PhillyRush@reddit

His father was also a preacher. He toured the religious circuit with him.

[-]

CheckYourStats@reddit

”See I think drugs have done some good things for us, I really do, and if you don't believe drugs have done good things for us, do me a favor: go home tonight and take all your albums, all your tapes, and all your cds and burn 'em. 'cause you know the musicians who made all that great music that's enhanced your lives throughout the years....were real fuckin’ high on drugs.”

Popularized by Tool, of course.

[-]

los421@reddit

You got a emphasize the realllllllllll like you're taking a bong rip.

[-]

tiredofnamechoosing@reddit

Orange Drink!!

[-]

Wee-BeyandPartlowLLC@reddit

God, that’s a great quote

[-]

truffles76@reddit

Leary would never be able to come up with something that good. Bill was the GOAT

[-]

Familiar-Sugar558@reddit

Ah, Hicks-Lite: Shittier taste, way less filling.

[-]

Buddha_Clause@reddit

He stole from a lot of comedians, I think Louis CK mentioned he stole bits from him as well

[-]

Pretty-Vehicle-6338@reddit

Listen to Rant in A E Minor....

[-]

Technical-Mobile-346@reddit

Neither is funny, so it makes sense.

[-]

twitchy-whiskers@reddit

I found out while reading an interview with Tool

[-]

SleepyGary5@reddit (OP)

Denis Leary IS a tool.

[-]

CaseyAnthonysMouth@reddit

I heard this in 7th grade and essentially memorized it. It wasn’t till many, many years later I learned it was plagiarized.

Someone below said greg giraldo called him out on tough crowd. I fucking love Greg giraldo so I’m going to have to find it.

[-]

sdelta@reddit

And Louis CK

[-]

PhatBoyFlim@reddit

To be fair, I was introduced to Bill Hicks because I was lucky enough to have someone tell me Leary ripped off a bunch of shit from him instead of be judgmental about it.

If the internet ruined anything, it was that older sibling/cousin/friend recommendation thing and turned every fucking thing into a purity test.

Go listen to Hicks. He was the actual spiritual successor to Carlin and we lost him far too soon.

[-]

OhFootballFriend@reddit

Stanhope is still around and he’s on par IMO.

[-]

ReagleRamen@reddit

Yup. I heard of Bill Hicks when someone left me a VHS tape of a documentary about him after he passed (I'm sure I could Google it to be sure, but I think it was called Life is a Ride). Not sure how I would have heard of him if that hadn't happened.

[-]

ODeasOfYore@reddit

This is a great fucking take

[-]

Plane_Arachnid9178@reddit

He stole “I’m an Asshole” from Louis Ck

[-]

Wild-Display-765@reddit

Bill Hicks man do we need him today.

[-]

-TeamCaffeine-@reddit

gif

It's just a ride...

[-]

Big-Tone-8241@reddit

“Just thinking about John, Jackie”

[-]

Wild-Display-765@reddit

Back and to the left, back and to the left.

[-]

Zestyclose_Hand_8233@reddit

I go back every once in a while to listen to that bit. We all need a reminder that it's just a ride. It's a choice between fear and love.

[-]

digital@reddit

Snnnnnickers!

[-]

ItchyMcHotspot@reddit

The last thing we need today is another conspiracy theory nutter. I have a strong suspicion what his mentality would be if he were still alive and it is not good.

[-]

mutantbabysnort@reddit

Carlin, too

[-]

HookerWithaPianist@reddit

It certainly bummed me out, because NCFC was something I still quote regularly, but Bill Hicks will forever have my respect.

[-]

Zargoza1@reddit

How many of us found out about Bill Hicks from the Tool song?

[-]

punkpcpdx@reddit

I knew Hicks years before I knew Leary. Everyone I knew loved Leary. I just shook my head and walked a better line. Fuck that guy.

[-]

CallidoraBlack@reddit

I just shook my head and walked a better line.

You can think it was a shitty thing and not like him, but you talk about it like you said no to beating up old ladies. I didn't think it was possible to be sanctimonious about this, but you blew my mind.

[-]

punkpcpdx@reddit

Do you really think that stealing a dead man's shtick is morally ok? What a world we live in. I bet you work in marketing.

[-]

CallidoraBlack@reddit

Do you really think that stealing a dead man's shtick is morally ok?

I didn't say that.

What a world we live in. I bet you work in marketing.

Thanks for doubling down. I worked in the ER for 10 years helping take care of patients. It's nice that you have always had so little real stuff going on in your life that this is the scandal of the century for you and you think you're a saint for being disgusting with your friends for checks list liking something. You really were ahead of your time.

[-]

punkpcpdx@reddit

You absolutely said that by using sanctimonious. It's not a scandal to me, I just knew as soon as he spoke, he stole Hicks. People would absolutely say the same if someone stole Carlin and other comics have been destroyed for the exact same thing. Going after what I have going on in my life instead of understanding the words you used and the whole shitty outcome of what Hicks was saying and what is happening now, as well as giving Leary a pass. Wow, what a world we live in.

[-]

CallidoraBlack@reddit

You absolutely said that by using sanctimonious

No. I didn't. That's what you assumed because you are, in fact, sanctimonious.

Definition: making a show of being morally superior to other people

Going after what I have going on in my life instead of understanding the words you used

I understood the words I used and you didn't.

[-]

lordhumongous40@reddit

Louis CK claims that his whole asshole song was based on a bit of his.

[-]

geekgirlwww@reddit

I really wonder what direction Hicks would’ve gone in if he were still around today. Would he have ended up a MAGA guy? “Libertarian”? Would he have done a Rogan or Maron and do a long running podcast? The Bill Waterson of comedy and disappeared?

[-]

Tribe303@reddit

There are different brands of Libertarian. In the US they are quite conservative. Punk rock is very leftist Libertarian for example.

Bill was certainly a kind of Libertarian, but he was not Conservative and ranted about Conservatives often.

Stop getting politics from Joe Rogan. 🤦

[-]

CallidoraBlack@reddit

Aging libertarians have dragged libertarianism in the US in that direction. We are talking about American comedians. It's valid to wonder if he as an aging libertarian would have done the same. We've seen some very weird flips from famous people who would have been more like Bill at that time.

[-]

Tribe303@reddit

Who knows? He hated being told not to smoke... "Muh Freedoms!" and all that. Except that's what killed him.

[-]

CallidoraBlack@reddit

I thought it said pancreatic cancer.

[-]

Tribe303@reddit

I thought it was lung cancer, but it was pancreatic and liver cancer.

[-]

CallidoraBlack@reddit

Yeah, pancreatic cancer is just a bitch. Especially then, it was automatically terminal.

[-]

gxslim@reddit

He was very libertarian. His whole thing was anti government, anti war

[-]

GSM_Biker@reddit

Anti-government and anti-war are just as much progressive as the are libertarian. If you wantonly put people in the libertarian box, ask if they‘re okay with a core libertarian belief, like raping kids.

[-]

gxslim@reddit

You're through the looking glass with your understanding of politics.

[-]

CallidoraBlack@reddit

No, he's just up to date with modern libertarianism, which is complaining about age of consent laws and wanting abortion banned at the same time.

[-]

ClimtEastwood@reddit

What

[-]

Mr_SunnyBones@reddit

He'd have probably given up and just post funny/odd stuff on twitter/X/whatever . And probably would have been cancelled at least for some time for making fun of something taboo becuase he honestly didnt care what people thought,

He was a good comic , but a nightmare to market , and didnt fit the usual US comedian path of standup->Small movie roles-> sitcom (usually with their first name as the name of the semi autobigraphical central character)

[-]

geekgirlwww@reddit

He’d be a road guy and then big following on social media when people started sharing clips and expand his devoted fan base that way.

[-]

mochajon@reddit

I imagine, somewhere between Bill Burr and Doug Stanhope.

[-]

nanneryeeter@reddit

What do you mean still around?

He didn't die.

He's Alex Jones, obviously.

[-]

dka2012@reddit

Fuck no he wouldn’t be MAGA

[-]

Rain_Dog_42@reddit

Yeah he did…There’s an old industry joke from the time: why is Bill Hicks dead and Denis Leary has a career? No Cure For Cancer”…a whole two years prior to Denis’ plagiarized take on Bill’s material. Everyone knows, that’s why it only lasted so long for him.

[-]

Hoosier_Daddy68@reddit

Leary is one of the least funny famous comedians ever. There are less funny for sure but nobody has ever heard of them. Leary somehow got a career.

[-]

rigidlynuanced1@reddit

And Louis CK

[-]

redzedx77@reddit

Common knowledge, but not all of his stuff is Hicks derived, just the smoking stuff, and the dark stuff…. Never mind, it’s all Hicks

[-]

Stimpisaurus@reddit

I'm a big fan of Leary,. Big fan of Bill Hicks too. Kinda hard to be a fan of one and not the other lol.

I actually met Leary once back around 2007 or 8. I was working at a convenience store in Worcester Mass (Learys home town.) I had a regular customer and he claimed he was Learys cousin or somehow related. I kinda blew it off, everyone in Worcester is "related" to him.

I was working Thanksgiving day shift, and dude came in to buy some smokes and as he did he got this big shit eating grin and went out to his car. Two seconds later Dennis Leary came in and started giving me shit for not believing his cousin. We talked for a minute. On his was out I said "You know, you really are an asshole" he smiled and said shut up and sing the song and left. Really cool interaction.

[-]

CEEngineerThrowAway@reddit

That makes sense why Giraldo showed no respect for Leary on Tough Crowd

[-]

soyverde@reddit

It makes even more sense when you note that Leary’s “attacks” on Giraldo were about how he was such a nerd for preparing material for the show…because Leary is apparently shit at writing material.

[-]

Reasons_2resist@reddit

I knew this album line for line when I was eleven.

Years later I got into Hicks. Next level.

[-]

IDigRollinRockBeer@reddit

gif

[-]

Ryuujin_13@reddit

“Stole a lot…” implies there’s parts he DIDN’T steal, which I don’t actually think is true. It was theft in bulk, top to bottom.

[-]

Magpie_Coin@reddit

Bill Hicks is sorely missed! He would have a field day these days!

[-]

Linvaderdespace@reddit

No one about that back then, no one’s thought of *no cure* since then,, but now that you mention it that tracks, I can totally see it.

[-]

Mean_Handle6707@reddit

You know, you really are an a$$hole?!? ;-)

[-]

AbbreviationsSea2516@reddit

stolen from Louis CK

[-]

Bibblegead1412@reddit

Ahhh, yes, the pioneer of "watch me jerk off... it's comedy

[-]

zaxdaman@reddit

To be fair, he also gave us Pootie Tang.

[-]

burf@reddit

His material is very funny. Well, it’s less funny in the context of the sexual harassment, but in a vacuum it’s funny.

[-]

CallidoraBlack@reddit

Maybe he should have stuck it in a vacuum and left those poor women alone then.

[-]

burf@reddit

Totally agree! I just don’t think “person did a bad thing” equates to “person is bad at their job.” Have we all decided that Michael Jackson was a shitty performer because he molested children? Or that The Beatles suck because John Lennon beat his wife?

[-]

CallidoraBlack@reddit

It's less about that and more "I don't care if someone else stole from that asshole."

[-]

mitrie@reddit

Who knew that a standup who told jokes about being a creepy weirdo would turn out to be a creepy weirdo.

[-]

burf@reddit

I like to think people can make jokes without personifying those jokes in their actual lives.

[-]

HeywoodJaBlessMe@reddit

They can. But not all of them will.

[-]

Dubyew@reddit

Cumedy

[-]

Mr_SunnyBones@reddit

to be fair , Fuck Louis CK ,creepy asshole.

[-]

Cognonymous@reddit

WHILE he was writing for Conan who is Leary's cousin.

[-]

fourofkeys@reddit

wait really

[-]

brock275@reddit

Third cousins. They found out post fame.

[-]

Super_Moose_Rocket@reddit

Just shut up and sing the song pal…

[-]

ibyczek78@reddit

🎶He's an asshole 🎶

[-]

twi_tch@reddit

once i made the connection, i stopped listening to his “comedy”.

[-]

jRok57@reddit

You're 100% correct.

I was the one that posted that one this morning, and I'd never ever heard of Bill Hicks until today. I feel so or of touch. Do you think you could suggest a comedy special by Hicks, so I can be in the know?

Genuinely asking. Not trying to be an asshole

[-]

Renfieldslament@reddit

Start here….

https://youtu.be/WDrgwZsGC9A?si=Q5CmlJQqkpL4aInO

[-]

Hypnoboy@reddit

That's supposed to be funny? Aren't stand ups supposed to be funny?

[-]

1337_Spartan@reddit

Sane Man which shows both his comedy and offers insight to his inner workings due to the cinematography.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_anFg-ulelo

[-]

justaride80@reddit

A good place to start is YouTube and watch his “One Night Stand” special.

[-]

MistressBedlam@reddit

I used to have Arizona Bay and Rant in E Minor on CD, but I think those were compilations that came out after he died. There are a lot of clips on YouTube to check out as well.

Dennis Leary literally plagiarized most of No Cure For Cancer—it was far beyond stealing a few jokes.

[-]

HeywoodJaBlessMe@reddit

I listened to those a great deal and had No Cure for Cancer practically memorized and never noticed.

"Plagiarized most of" seems an exaggeration to me.

[-]

punkpcpdx@reddit

I have both on Comedy Dynamics vinyl pressings. They are beautiful pressings that I think Bill would be proud of. All proceeds went to his mom.

[-]

jRok57@reddit

Yeah. I'm watching Relentless, right now.

Definitely, different energy between them. It's like Kevin Hart and Anthony Jeselnik

[-]

ParsnipDecent6530@reddit

Relentless. Rant in e minor Arizona bay.

[-]

Tom_Cruises_Uterus@reddit

Revelations and Relentless.

Like others have said, tons of stuff on YouTube.

To this day, one of my all-time favorite Hicks moments is when he has a meltdown in Chicago with a heckler.

He has some books as well.

[-]

brzantium@reddit

I wouldn't beat yourself up about it. We all have our blindspots. I didn't hear about Bill Hicks until I went off to college...after living in Houston for four years.

[-]

Tribe303@reddit

There are lots of Bill Hicks on YouTube.

[-]

Hypnoboy@reddit

The thing is, I've never seen a clip of Bill Hicks where he was doing stand up that I actually thought was funny. It all just seemed very complain-y and sad. I've mentioned this before on Reddit and several other platforms, and I've asked people to reply with a clip that's got funny material in it, so that I can see what you're all seeing, and nobody ever does. I want to know what I'm missing.

[-]

Dapper_Interest_8914@reddit

I have Tool to thank for introducing me to Bill Hicks.

[-]

d3dk0w@reddit

Same, I listened to Aenima a lot when I was a teen.

[-]

AndreTheShadow@reddit

I still do, but I used to, too.

RIP Mitch

[-]

Wee-BeyandPartlowLLC@reddit

Same! Aenima was the album I put on to test every sound system set up I had. The lyric “Learn to swim, I’ll see you down in Arizona Bay” lands harder knowing it was a Hicks but title.

[-]

BloodyPaleMoonlight@reddit

My favorite Hicks bit is his one about the cum maggot coming out of Rush Limbaugh while being pissed on by Barbara Bush.

[-]

DS3M@reddit

Bill died and so did Leary’s stand up career

[-]

youcandoitmkay666@reddit

And Jon Stewart!

[-]

Old-Bee9904@reddit

We didnt have internet back then it wasn't our fault

[-]

PortugalTheHam@reddit

Its also easy to steal from a dead man.

[-]

Zabroccoli@reddit

Shitty thing is Hicks died in 94. This was released in 92.

[-]

Cognonymous@reddit

But it's nice to get into the cheap imitation first and get a lot of joy out of that and THEN get to discover the original and get all the joy out of how much greater that is.

[-]

SnooKiwis2161@reddit

This is such an accurate description that is the comedy ride of discovering No Cure for Cancer as a teen in the early 90s, then to discover Hicks through social media.

I hate the thievery, but I have a grudging respect that Leary may well have unintentionally kept Bill Hicks's comedy alive if it ultimately redirects listeners to Hicks. Kind of the best revenge.

But it definitely also clicked when I realized Leary hopped straight into movies rather than continue stand up. If you can't come up with anything original, I guess the next best thing is to read someone else's lines. At least he understood where his zone is, I guess.

[-]

joshwaynebobbit@reddit

To his credit he does have pretty good comedic timing and delivery so I think it made him a decent comedic actor, but he's also just one comedic character, something along the lines of lovable asshole.

[-]

Cognonymous@reddit

He does have good comedic timing for sure, and I will say that like stealing takes out maybe 50% of the work of a comic but like you still have to actually deliver the jokes which is not as easy as it looks. There are a lot of those smaller skills that idk if you can really learn them any other way than through experience. Like you have to react to your crowd and know how to make a bit bigger if they like it or make it smaller if it's really bombing etc. Leary's performance definitely has more use of his body and even space than Bill. Not a dig at Bill or anything, I think for Leary it was kind of turning up the volume to cover for the conceptual weakness of material. Like that bit where he's smoking the cigarette and wheezing in a super exaggerated fashion.

So yes, he's a joke thief, but he still has good timing and stage presence and maybe this flare for performance is why he's been able to succeed as an actor.

[-]

Prestigious-Yak-4620@reddit

Carlos Menica(sp). Who remembers Joe Rogan taking him down. Lots of people steal others work and get rich from it. Not many get called out so publicly.

Bill Gates is another one.

[-]

CallidoraBlack@reddit

Just goes to show that you can be a piece of crap who goes over a piece of crap. In this case, he's a much bigger piece of crap than Mencia ever was.

[-]

DoctorFenix@reddit

He was Carlos Mencia before Ned came along.

[-]

Potential-Ant-6320@reddit

He's worse because he stole his whole persona from someone else. Mensia just steals bits.

[-]

DoctorFenix@reddit

He stole the premise of the asshole song from Louis CK.

Bill Hicks wasn’t the only one he ripped off.

[-]

CallidoraBlack@reddit

That makes sense, because on his worst day, Leary couldn't be more of an asshole than Louis CK.

[-]

SnooKiwis2161@reddit

That's wild. Here I am thinking he was a one-rip-off kind of guy, and here he is, working overtime evidently

[-]

ninetysevencents@reddit

Isn't Hicks the guy who made a bunch of "jokes" about how he wanted to have sex with minors?

[-]

Mudcreek47@reddit

NyQuil, NyQuil, NyQuil, we love you you giant f*ing Q! It's the 13th step!

[-]

L1QU1D_ThUND3R@reddit

This was one of my, and my sister’s, favorite albums in HS. I was a Dennis Leary fan before I was a Bill Hicks fan. Now my sister and I have so many good memories attached to this album, that I have trouble holding any bad blood against Dennis Leary.

[-]

Phog_of_War@reddit

I'd love to hear Bills take on the state of American politics over the last 12 years or so.

[-]

OOOOOO0OOOOO@reddit

I’m sorry hate the guy if you want for joke/aura theft. But Rescue Me is phenomenal.

[-]

TheVelcroStrap@reddit

By the by, did anyone buy the Bill Hicks action figure? It was released alongside Lenny Bruce and Joan Rivers a few years ago.

[-]

WestEndLifer@reddit

Nope but will be on the look out now!

[-]

Deth-Ray@reddit

Late 90s friend of mine was the only one with a car. He introduced me to so much different music and comedy. I owe him a lot now that I think about it. Anyways, we listened to Hicks a lot.

[-]

I_Framed_OJ@reddit

Bill Hicks is overrated. I absolutely mean that. Yes, he was right about a lot of things, and he was occasionally pretty funny, but he also didn't say much that most intelligent people couldn't figure out on their own by the time they turn 20. His act depicted the frustrated rage of a man who continually thinks he's the smartest person in the room, whose personal cross to bear is the relentless stupidity of everyone around him especially those in charge of running the world. Such people can be insufferable. Bill Hicks could be insufferable. He had some genuinely good ideas, but if you find Bill Hicks to be the "smartest person in the room", then you're in the wrong fucking room.

I guess the difference is that Bill Hicks was sincere and reasonably original. Leary was neither.

[-]

justaride80@reddit

I get what you are saying. I disagree with it mostly, but I do understand your point. Some of Bill’s material was cheap, sophomoric, and immature(he was 32 years old when he died after all). Some of it was absolutely brilliant.

[-]

Dranchela@reddit

Ok but like, have you ever even seen a fuckin Gideon? No, you haven't.

And we have Bill to thank for point out this cult of Hotel Bible Ninjas for us to be wary of.

[-]

BrobotGaming@reddit

Well, he is a self proclaimed asshole.

[-]

RxSatellite@reddit

I think it’s pretty well documented and has been talked about for a long time.

Although I do believe DL knowingly ripped them off, IMO Leary is better at delivery. At this point I don’t care anymore

[-]

ReservedPickup12@reddit

I thought this was common knowledge among our generation. It’s like the old joke goes:

Why is Denis Leary a star while Bill Hicks is unknown?

Because there’s no cure for cancer.

[-]

fourofkeys@reddit

i don't think i've ever seen leary's stand up, but i always liked him in the ref.

[-]

Vivid-Individual5968@reddit

The Ref is a family favorite every holiday season. 8 of us in unison, “Where are the cigarettes???”

[-]

solexioso@reddit

There was a whole chunk cut from the roast of Dennis Leary because Lenny Clark mentioned him stealing Bill’s material.

[-]

Knight_thrasher@reddit

I did because every time I mentioned this act I would be told and guess what what I DIDNT GIVE A SHIT

[-]

KILLONATOR9000@reddit

And having learned nothing, we allowed Carlos Mencia to happen years later.

[-]

mwlepore@reddit

He had that single with "Asshole", but i recall hearing he stole that bit from Louis CK early on.

[-]

Immediate_Age@reddit

If he hadn't stolen Hick's set, Dennis Leary would still have an active notable career in comedy. He's unrecognizable at this point.

This was his "peak." - https://youtu.be/UrgpZ0fUixs?si=5WuWmjOlP9VerYD9

[-]

derpjutsu@reddit

Got this as a teenager, still have the CD. Never heard of this. Will have to look up Bill Hicks sometime.

[-]

Siphoneder@reddit

I first learned of him from when Comedy Central would play the Bill Hicks documentary "It's Just a Ride" in the mid-90s along with Andy Kaufman's "I'm from Hollywood". I miss that era of Comedy Central when they would focus on actual comedy and comedians.

[-]

Sorry-Joke-4325@reddit

I'll do you one better. I don't even know who Dennis Leary is.

[-]

Kid_Kameleon@reddit

You’re Xennial and don’t know who Dennis Leary is? How is that possible?

[-]

Zeke688@reddit

Stolen bits, stolen valor

[-]

Mr_SunnyBones@reddit

gif

[-]

Sorry-Joke-4325@reddit

I've heard the name but I couldn't tell you anything he's done. Obviously I'm not a fan.

[-]

Kid_Kameleon@reddit

I hear you, I just can’t imagine being around our age and not knowing who he is, like I don’t think I would be able to pull that off even if I could start over and purposefully try to avoid pop culture things, he would still find his way into my consciousness through osmosis. I’m not a fan either, but I feel like I would have to have been under a rock to not know who he was….

[-]

JaxxisR@reddit

He's an actor. His first role was as a comedian.

[-]

Don_Shetland@reddit

He stole the whole I'm an Asshole bit from louis ck. At least he turned it into a song I guess

[-]

S_A_R_K@reddit

Rescue Me is still a great show

[-]

Mr_SunnyBones@reddit

I assume somoene will be along in a minute to somehow point out that Hicks wrote that , and "The Job" but sneaky Dennis stole those scripts as well ...

[-]

roccosaint@reddit

I've done a few rewatches of the show, and nothing makes me laugh harder than when Franco was dating the girl with the brother that had tourettes. Dude, just mid sentence, yelling the N word out loud like he's Quentin Tarantino in his own movie roles.

[-]

Mr_SunnyBones@reddit

Oh god , this again . yeah he did , and it was a shitty thing to do . But the way people talkabout it you'd think that Hicks originally did No Cure for Cancer , and Leary just recited it verbatim as his act . He didnt . Some of the ideas are the same , but done differently , Leary's act was the Last Angry Man , Hicks was basically Modern Demagogue, try to point out the craziness in the world . Hicks wouldnt do jokes about" Ludes man" Leary wouldnt tell people in advirtisng "kill yourselves , no really , I mean it" And this was coming off the 80s ,when joke stealing was only starting to be come unacceptable as opposed to now , where if you do it Patten Oswalt holy defender of The Comedy , appears in full Paladin armour and smites you with a flaming sword.Or just shames you on twitter.

It sucks , but he's paid his debt . He's a great comic ,for a guy who plays a dick head so much he's actulayy done a lot of genuine charity stuff (with firefighters in the US ) but this was always a big stain on his record. Also he's cursed that everytime he's mentioned on the internet WITHIN SECONDS .. someone will post a "WELL ACKSHULLY HE STOLE FROM BILL HICKS!!!! "

gif

[-]

ATXoxoxo@reddit

There is a sex toy store in Austin, that is owned by good friends of his and they run the Bill Hicks Wildlife foundation and every now and then they have some shirts. I got one because I love Bill Hicks.

[-]

Rurumo666@reddit

Bill Hick's was 1,000 times the Comic that Leary ever was, they aren't eve in the same league.

[-]

MoridinXP@reddit

1) George Carlin 2) Bill Hicks 3) John Stewart

Everyone else can piss off. None of them come close to these guys. Glad we still have Stewart around at least these days...

[-]

RickThrust@reddit

One of those is not like the others...

[-]

syentifiq@reddit

No Richard Pryor is astonishing

[-]

MoridinXP@reddit

Never listened to Pryor's stuff. Give me his best and I'll check it out.

[-]

Illustrious-Lead-960@reddit

Live at the Sunset Strip.

[-]

syentifiq@reddit

Richard Pryor: Live in Concert is a great stand up special on Netflix now. Blazing Saddles, co written by him and Mel Brooks, is absolutely hilarious.

[-]

MoridinXP@reddit

Blazing Saddles was, indeed, hilarious. I'll check out that set.

[-]

Always-just-a-friend@reddit

You have to listen to Pryor. I agree with you though. I wish Jon Stewart would start doing stand-up comedy again.

[-]

mochajon@reddit

Jon is terrible at standup, he’s said it himself many times.

[-]

inghostlyjapan@reddit

You didn't mention Pryor or Mooney or Williams who belong up there with Carlin and Hicks. (Along with many dead comedians, they just spring to mind first).

And is Stewart really your go to best living comedian?

[-]

MoridinXP@reddit

Never cared for William's stand up and if you can name a better living societal satirist, I'm all ears. No one I've seen or heard in decades holds a candle to the 3 I've mentioned.

[-]

mochajon@reddit

Lewis Black.

[-]

inghostlyjapan@reddit

Well I think Pryor is funnier than Hicks and I love Hicks, and the last number of specials by Carlin aren't particularly amazing, id prefer to watch a number of other comedians

I think Burr's delivery is better than Stewart's and I think Lewis Black's mid 2000s specials and are possibly the best "current event" specials of the era.

I love the man and he has great timing but I haven't seen Stewart do an hour of his own material. He's not that funny on his podcasts. Does he even write his own material?

[-]

BoboliBurt@reddit

I mean the whole comedy club scene absolutely collapsed- as did newsworthy arm wrestling matches- in the early 1990s. And its collapse was at its peak the moment this tape dropped- which also coincided with Mr Hicks deathZ

Leary was a bit lucky in this sense, giving away his content at the moment that the general public was turning to consumable media to get their fix (I’m well aware there were various comedic geniuses about and LP records on shelves in 70s and 80s).

I didn’t like Leary and was annoyed when they tried to make him a TV/movie star for a couple years. Bill Hicks obviously wasn’t destined for these opportunitiesl.

I don’t have strong feelings about him as creepy upper class men weren’t reciting his bits on the back of the bus like Andrew Dice Clay and he wasn’t ruining the song “Wild Thing”- when my bargain Rose Records cassette with Hendrix on one side and Otis Redding on the other had a far far superior version.

[-]

FluxusFlotsam@reddit

Why is Dennis Leary famous and Bill Hicks is an unknown cult act?

Because there’s no cure for cancer…

[-]

billypump@reddit

It's because Bill was just obscure enough that Leary could steal his material and even Bill's "fuck you" attitude.The difference being that even though he was disappointed and disgusted by certain aspects of our society and culture, Bill wanted people to educate themselves and challenge their perspectives Dennis just wanted to express his disdain for people and not offer any real insite as to what was happening to culture and society. All comics knew he was stealing Bill's stuff and it's been suggested by several people that naming his special " no cure for cancer " was a final " fuck you" to Hicks. Leary only had 4 stand -up specials over an eighteen year career. Hicks did five albums in seven years. Two were in one year,during which he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Google " Bill Hicks movies and TV shows and No Cure for Cancer shows up on the list.

[-]

thecatsofwar@reddit

It’s likely many people don’t know who the Hicks guy is/was, or they didn’t care if the material was ‘stolen’.

[-]

mnfimo@reddit

This is what i said yesterday, ive never heard of bill hicks, but I laughed my ass off at no cure for cancer

[-]

Left_Maize816@reddit

No one I knew had heard of hicks, but my friend group would watch this special every time we got together.

[-]

Efficient_Shame_8539@reddit

No same. I remember my friends watching the tape of this years before I heard of Hicks.

[-]

Original_Thanatos@reddit

Dennis Leary - "Im an Asshole, asshole, asshole"

https://youtu.be/UrgpZ0fUixs?si=dYUneMxJcVr2sLw1

I was introduced to Hicks work first before finding out about Leary. I have a pop art painting of Hicks (made my an old friend) hanging up on my living room wall.

[-]

Joliet-Jake@reddit

I didn’t know that until pretty recently when I read Leary’s wikipedia page. I wasn’t familiar with Bill Hicks.

[-]

somethingsoddhere@reddit

He’s a prick

[-]

vaderishvr666@reddit

ive known that since 1988

[-]

Complete-Jicama891@reddit

I didn’t find out till later either

[-]

TheVelcroStrap@reddit

Bill Hicks was way too obsessed with Debbie Gibson. Her music wasn’t for him, and in the least, he should have been impressed she wrote her own songs.

[-]

PhantoWolf@reddit

I always saw Leary as a personality rather than an actual comic. His entire persona is stage.

[-]

Striking-Access-236@reddit

And his Asshole bit was stolen from Louis CK

[-]

Sharpshooter188@reddit

A lot of jokes have been repeated through out time. I thought I was a comic genius at thr age of 10 when I turned the YMCA song into Y R U Gay. Turns out....no....

[-]

ryver@reddit

My favorite Hicks bit ever. https://youtu.be/pJSZcxXe7IQ?si=isEVAJm6Fm-LeUNA

[-]

Living_Young1996@reddit

Dennis Leary is the most famous hack in the business

[-]

Aggravating_Bat3618@reddit

He gave up comedy after Bill Hicks died because he didn’t have anybody to steal from anymore

[-]

TheFabulousMolar@reddit

Didn't he also steal from Louis CK?

[-]

Always-just-a-friend@reddit

Bill Hicks was one of the GOATs

[-]

Lord_Darlantan@reddit

I learned after. But because I heard it first from Denis, that what I like. It’s hearing the cover of a song. The original may (or often may not) be better but you get use to things. And not to takeaway from Hicks, obviously brilliant and I’ve heard his routines. He’s great. But I grew up with this album. I’ve always loved it and always will. 🤷‍♂️

[-]

"Because there's no cure for cancer."

[-]