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American: The Bill Hicks Story (tbc)

• Run time: 1 hour 47 mins

• Genre: Documentary
• Release date: 14th May 2010

• Starring: Bill Hicks, Dwight Slade, James Ladmirault
• Directed by: Matt Harlock, Paul Thomas

• Official Website: http://www.americanthemovie.com
• Distributor: Verve Pictures
• Find out more about the film - Click here

Plot Synopsis

Houston, Texas in the 1970s was one of many cities in Middle America fulfilling the American Dream epitomised by the luxurious homes of prosperous families which populated its leafy suburbs. For a young Bill Hicks, however, there was just no soul to it. Entranced by the first comedians he saw on TV late at night, he realised that the comic’s job was to question society and keep it in check. He could see the cracks in this dream – and he was going to make fun of it. He was going to be a comedian.

Nor was Bill alone in his point of view, so with the help of his like-minded friends, and much to the annoyance of his Southern Baptist parents, the 15 year-old began sneaking out to perform at the newly opened Comix Annex in Houston. He was quickly spotted and made appearances on the nascent David Letterman Show but he still felt his comedy wasn’t doing enough. Seeking inspiration from the hard-partying, politically aware group of Houston comics he had fallen in with, he began experimenting with drugs and alcohol as a way to ‘break through’. The hallucinogenic mushrooms he took opened his eyes and fundamentally shaped his view of comedy, the world and himself forever.

As his work progressed his comedy took on wider themes, and he began hitting out at the targets of the day – fundamentalist religion, the Reagan administration and 80s pop culture. He divided audiences as his comedic reputation grew, but his choice of material and his increasingly drunken, drug fuelled antics saw him kicked off television shows and heading towards a potential overdose – he was just one party away from dying.

Realising that he had lost sight of his comedy dream he struggled to remove alcohol and drug use from his life; when he did he quickly connected with new international audiences in Canada, and then the UK, where his sold-out tours mesmerized crowds as he skewered the US media and his own government’s war mongering with material few other comics dared to touch.

He was poised to become a major voice in America when in June 1993 Bill was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. With the clock ticking as his health deteriorated, he redoubled his efforts to record new material, attempting to reach audiences by confronting them with the truth that the American Dream had turned sour. Although his righteous anger often flared, he was actually offering a new alternative – the preaching of peace and acceptance, and that the responsibility of human evolution now lay in our own hands. In a stark reminder that society needs to be scrutinized as much as ever, Bill’s message gains more fans every year, confirming that he is a timeless voice, still needed and yet to be replaced.