Unaired 1993 Bill Hicks set airs Friday on Letterman

Mary Hicks, mother of the late Bill Hicks, is taping an appearance this afternoon on Late Show with David Letterman that will air Friday and include the twelfth and final performance by Hicks that the show had censored back in 1993. Why the change of heart now? We'll find out soon enough. Next month is the 15th anniversary of his early death, with events planned in England (the Brits always loved Hicks) and in Portland, Ore. (where childhood friend/comedian Dwight Slade lives). And later this year, the British-produced documentary American: The Bill Hicks Story should make it to the big screen.

In this segment from an earlier documentary about "Outlaw Comic" Hicks that I recall seeing at the HBO Aspen festival in 2002, Janeane Garofalo says in a voiceover how Mary Hicks received the only existing tape of the set from CBS and the show, but they couldn't use it at the time. Instead, they show part of the final performance ever from Hicks in 1994. Were he alive today, you can imagine how he'd feel about Miley Cyrus...

And in this public access TV appearance, Bill Hicks himself talks at length about his disputed appearance on Letterman:

Related: This is the 1993 New Yorker profile of Bill Hicks that he mentions in the above video.

UPDATED: For the set itself plus some of the chat between Letterman and Mary Hicks, click here.

Comments

[xmasdriver]

They didn't air it because it sucked, not because it was offensive. Offensive can be funny but this was just really uninspired,uncreative,unfunny and just plain lame.

[Ghostof Bill]

That is one thousand percent an uninspired,uncreative,unfunny and just plain lame opinion. And so ridiculously deep in the minority that the rest of the world must be completely unenlightened, eh?

Watch one or all of dozens of Hicks' performances available on the net and reassess your lofty standard. That is, if your third eye is capable of being squeegied.

[Nx Doyle]

"They didn't air it because it sucked". Right. Moron.

[xlpharmacy]

One of the reasons why I like visiting your blog so much is because it has become a daily reference I can use in order to learn new nice stuff. It's like a curiosities box that surprises you over and over again.

[generic cialis]

I must say I'm so glad to find your blog, even though I did it by a fluke. The information posted here is so entertaining and different to the other blogs. In short, a really nice blog that I'll keep visiting very often.