Product Description

Written by Bill Hicks' lifelong friend, producer and co-creator Kevin Booth, this book offers the inside story on a unique talent. Hicks was only along for the ride for a tragically short time, yet left an indelible mark on comedy enthusiasts and free-thinkers everywhere. Bill Hicks: Agent of Evolution offers a rare fly-on-the-wall insight into the life of one of Britain's most loved US comedians. Adored in the UK for his unique style of savage, hilarious comedy, the one person who knew him inside and out tells of a man whose life was just as impassioned and off-the-wall as his comedy. Even back at High School, in Houston, Texas, Kevin was Bill's co-conspirator, as they sneaked out of Bill's strict Baptist home at night, and headed for the Comedy Workshop, where at the age of fourteen, Bill was going down a storm. They virtually shared every experience -- from magic mushrooms to girls, but it was their music and their vision of comedy, which bound them so closely together. Kevin produced, engineered and performed on, many of Bill's recordings, and it is largely due to him, that so much of Bill's comedy is readily available on CD and video. Michael Bertin, a hugely talented author from Austin, Texas, is co-writing Kevin's fly-on-the-wall biography of Bill Hicks. Matt Stone, co-creator of South Park, has written the introduced.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #335243 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 448 pages

Review
'I thought he was the most intelligent, most liberating social and political comic I had ever, ever heard.' -- John Cleese "Bill was right up there with Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor. He was easily the best comic of my generation." -- Brett Butler "I am one of the many fans of Bill Hicks. I listen to him year after year. He was hilarious, brilliant, brave and right about everything. " -- Henry Rollins

About the Author
Born in Connecticut in 1961, Kevin Booth grew up in Austin, Texas as Bill Hicks's long-term friend and the co-creator of many of his shows.

Customer Reviews

This is THE Hicks book to read
Hands down this is the best tome on Bill Hicks around. I enjoyed Love All the People, but the bulk of it was comedy routines. Who wants to read stand-up? Parts of American Scream were okay, but it read more like a long piece from People magazine.

This book, however, is all Hicks (as told by the people closest to him). And he just oozes out of every page. It was so refreshing to see how human Bill really was. Rather than demistify him, it almost elevated his status in that someone with such normal fears and fascinations became one of the greatest comics of a generation (and whose jokes are still relevant today). After reading it I felt like I had spent time around him, which is maybe the highest compliment I can pay the authors.

This book is superbly craftet and I can't recommend it enough.

Not what I was expecting.
Im going to break from the trend here and rate this book 3 stars because I was personally so underwhelmed by something Ive literally waited years for. I remember getting giddy in anticipation when I read Kevin Booth was writing a very personal biography of one of my favourite comedians of all time. Ive been a Hicks fan for a good few years now, devouring everything available to me including the sub-par biog from Cynthia True but Agent of Evolution made me feel hungry for something more.

The book itself is structured well enough with Hicks' life, loves and personal failures shown in an understanding light by both Bertin and Booth. But it just lacks something. Maybe its because anything worthwhile about Hicks' life has been written about by so many people already, not even the perspective of his real friends can add anything to a man we all seem to pretend to know so well.

But we dont, of course, know him. Which is why such biogs are valuable. But aside from the occaisional annecdote or insight into who Bill Hicks was, the book is thin on new information. Between the Just A Ride documentary, the mahr letters and True's book, everything has been covered already.

Were my expectations too high? Maybe.

Kevin Booth, a guy who I had a great deal of respect for (primarily for keeping the Hicks legacy alive via Sacred Cow Productions), seems to become the focus of the latter few chapters. Theres a hurricane of bitterness in Booth's words, towards a number of targets such as Bill's parents, other friends of Hicks & also, what I interpreted as a feeling of underappreciation or overshadowing of Booth's work. He'll always be know as Bill Hicks' best made rather than the producer/musician status that he craves. I dont think Booth is blameworthy for his feelings and you cant knock him for sharing them, but they do detract from the book. At least when I read it.

But I guess the redemption comes because its firstly a book about Hicks. Anything celebrating the man will always be welcomes by me. Even if I felt a bit empty when I finished it. Its worth buying if you consider yourself a Hicks fan and a completionist, but otherwise maybe wait until it comes out in Paperback. Secondly, if you're new to Hicks or want to know more about the man then this is probably the start you've been praying for. But for those that feel them 'know' the story of how Hicks came to be Hicks, I just felt let down.

Its a shame because I found it enjoyable enough, touching at times, but at the risk of sounding like a fat kid at a pizza shop: it just wasnt enough.

Agent of Evolution
Having loved Bill Hicks for some time, and after reading other biographies of him, as well as his own scripts, I decided to read this book and was not disappointed. There is a depth to Bill's life that you see from the topics of his comedy but that gets lost in his more controversial jokes. This book shows you the other side to Bill and you realise his humour comes from an intelligent(which we already knew), almost spiritual place. It is fascinating to see how he developed his comedy and how he experimented and grew in his life. Told from the point of view of his best friend and peers, you feel that this is a very open and intimate portrayal. This is a great read about a great man. I wish he was here to comment on America and the world now!