Bill Hicks in Leeds

[Steve Jones]

On 8th november 1992 the late great comedian Bill Hicks performed a show at what was then Leeds Polytechnic.I wondered if anyone on here was at the gig?

[rodley trotter]

STEVE,i was at that gig,and unsurprisingley he was brilliant.he scrounged a cigarette off someone in the audience,dont ask me why i remember that!

[anthonydna]

Was Dennis Leary there with a tape recorder?

[Steve Jones]

Nice to see someone there.I spotted the gig listed on the tour details shown inside the "Shock & Awe" CD.now if only someone has made a recording....Incidentally I can really recommend the newly released film "American-The Bill Hicks Story" in the 2 DVd set released on Monday.No Hicks fan should be without it.I wish I had known about him back in 1992 as I would have loved to have been there.

[Steve Jones]

Apparently the Leeds performance featured a milestone according to this excerpt from an article on Bill:"The decision to quit drink and drugs helped Hicks focus on what he really wanted to achieve with comedy. He still advocated drug use, but the subtext became political: “It’s not a war on drugs,” he’d say. “It’s a war on personal freedom. Keep that in mind at all times.” When he announced in Leeds in the early nineties that he’d given up smoking the audience were extremely hostile, calling him a traitor and throwing cigarettes at the stage. Part of the Cult Of Bill, it seemed, depended on his outlaw status.“They seemed genuinely hurt,” Hicks told Southampton’s listings magazine in 1992. “I told them the point of that smoking routine was that I should have the right to smoke, even if you don’t think I should. Now the whole point is, I should have the right not to smoke, even if you think I should. The point is my right to choose.” Hicks’ fans were clearly worried he’d lost his edge. “The targets are the same,” he reasoned. “The voice of reason in an insane world. That’s my whole act.”