William Melvin Bill Hicks December 16 1961 February 26 1994 was an American standup comedian and satirist His humor challenged mainstream beliefs aiming to enlighten people to think for themselves Hicks used a ribald approach to express his material describing himself as Chomsky with dick jokes His jokes included general discussions about society religion politics philosophy and personal issues Hicks material was often deliberately controversial and steeped in dark comedy In both his standup performances and during interviews he often criticized consumerism superficiality mediocrity and banality within the media and popular culture describing them as oppressive tools of the ruling class meant to keep people stupid and apathetic Hicks died of pancreatic cancer which had spread to his liver in 1994 at the age of 32 In the years after his death his work and legacy achieved significant admiration and acclaim of numerous comedians writers actors and musicians alike He was listed as the 19th greatest standup comedian of all time by Comedy Central in 2004 and 6th greatest in 2007 and 4th greatest by Channel 4 in 2010
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