Hyde Park Picture House

Now Showing

American: The Bill Hicks Story

Time
On 29th June - 8.30 PM
Other showings
From 5th June - 1st July
Starring:
Documentary: Kevin Booth, John Farneti, Bill Hicks, Lynn Hicks
Director
Dir. Matt Harlock, Paul Thomas
Duration
107mins
Country
UK
Year
2009
Synopsis:

Featuring footage never before seen, AMERICAN: THE BILL HICKS STORY is a frank documentary that tells the story of one of the most venerated comedians of the 20th century. Photo-animated and uniquely narrated by Hicks’ closest friends and family members, Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas’s highly personal film is a rare tribute to a truly legendary stand-up comic who, at just 32 years old, lost his long battle against pancreatic cancer. AMERICAN: THE BILL HICKS STORY arrives after three years in the making and brings the journey of this one-off cultural architect full circle.

www.billhicks.com

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Critical reaction:

  • But the best bits, of course, are the jokes, and Hicks was a unique blend of both astute thinker and volatile entertainer, describing himself as “Chomsky with dick jokes” - a somewhat dismissive statement given the quality of his impassioned routines which countless comics have attempted to embody ever since. ****

    LEEDS GUIDE

  • In death as in life, it’s the UK that gave a platform to a comedian repeatedly overlooked and censored in his homelanD...a biography that succeeds in portraying him as a courageous libertarian, philosopher and troubled romantic, while extolling his massive cultural loss.

    FUTUREMOVIES