His material — encompassing a wide range of social issues including religion, politics, and philosophy — was controversial and often steeped in dark comedy.

In subsequent years, his work gained significant acclaim in creative circles—particularly after a series of posthumous album releases—and he developed a substantial cult following.

[7] He was drawn to comedy at an early age, emulating Woody Allen and Richard Pryor, and wrote routines with his friend Dwight Slade.

While attending Stratford High School,[8] he began performing comedy (mostly derivations of Woody Allen material) for his classmates.

'"[11] Biographer Cynthia True described a typical argument with his father: The elder Hicks would say, "I believe that the Bible is the literal word of God."

[18] On the album Relentless, he jokes that he quit using drugs because "once you've been taken aboard a UFO, it's kind of hard to top that", although in his performances he continued to enthusiastically praise the virtues of LSD, marijuana, and psychedelic mushrooms.

[22] In 1990, Hicks released his first album, Dangerous, performed on the HBO special One Night Stand and at Montreal's Just for Laughs festival.

Hicks made a brief detour into musical recording with the Marble Head Johnson album in 1992, collaborating with Houston high school friend Kevin Booth and Austin, Texas, drummer Pat Brown.

NBC had a policy that no jokes about the handicapped could be aired, making his stand-up routine difficult to perform without mentioning words such as "wheelchair".

[31] His stand-up routine was removed from the show, Hicks said, because Letterman's producers believed the material, which included jokes involving religion and the anti-abortion movement, was unsuitable for broadcast.

"[42] During a 2003 Comedy Central Roast of Leary, comedian Lenny Clarke said that a carton of cigarettes from Hicks was backstage, with the message, "Wish I had gotten these to you sooner."

[43] American Scream describes an incident in the plagiarism controversy: Leary was in Montreal hosting the "Nasty Show" at Club Soda, and Colleen [McGarr?]

He expressed anger, disgust, and apathy while addressing the audience in a casual and personal manner, which he likened to merely conversing with his friends.

[44]American philosopher and ethnomycologist Terence McKenna was a frequent source of Hicks' most controversial psychedelic and philosophical counter-cultural material; Hicks infamously acted out an abridged version of McKenna's "Stoned Ape" model of human evolution as a routine during several of his final shows.

Hicks ended some of his shows, especially those being recorded in front of larger audiences as albums, with a mock "assassination" of himself on stage, making gunshot sound effects into the microphone while falling to the ground.

He performed the final show of his career at Caroline's in New York on January 6, 1994; he moved back to his parents' house in Little Rock shortly thereafter.

[citation needed] In his last weeks, Hicks re-read J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings,[53] and made telephone calls to friends to say goodbye before he stopped speaking on February 14, 1994.

[52]Hicks' albums Arizona Bay and Rant in E-Minor were released posthumously in 1997 on the Voices imprint of the Rykodisc label.

At the time of his death, Hicks was working with comedian Fallon Woodland on a pilot episode of a new talk show, titled Counts of the Netherworld for Channel 4.

By means of audio sampling, fragments of his rants, diatribes, social criticisms, and philosophies have found their way into many musical works, such as the live version of Super Furry Animals' "The Man Don't Give a Fuck" and Adam Freeland's "We Want Your Soul".

[60] Hicks' joke "It's always funny until someone gets hurt; then it's just hilarious" is used as the chorus of Faith No More's song "Ricochet", from their 1995 album King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime.

[62] Comedians who have cited Hicks as an inspiration include Joe Rogan,[63][64] Dave Attell,[65] Lewis Black,[66] Patton Oswalt,[67] David Cross,[68] Russell Brand,[69] Ron White,[70] Frankie Boyle,[71] Jimmy Dore, Lee Camp and Brendon Burns.

Before leaving his house to start on the movie's main adventure, Jip states: "... first a daily injection of the late prophet Bill Hicks ... just to remind me not to take life too seriously."

[73][74] On February 25, 2004, British MP Stephen Pound tabled an early day motion titled "Anniversary of the Death of Bill Hicks" (EDM 678 of the 2003–04 session), the text of which reads: That this House notes with sadness the 10th anniversary of the death of Bill Hicks, on 26th February 1994, at the age of 33 [sic]; recalls his assertion that his words would be a bullet in the heart of consumerism, capitalism and the American Dream; and mourns the passing of one of the few people who may be mentioned as being worth of inclusion with Lenny Bruce in any list of unflinching and painfully honest political philosophers.

[75]Hicks appeared in a flashback scene in writer Garth Ennis's Vertigo comic-book series Preacher, in the story "Underworld" in issue No.

Jimmy Carr, in his book The Naked Jape (co-written with Lucy Greeves), wrote that Hicks "was one of the most celebrated recent exponents of loud, impassioned political stand-up.

"[78] Stewart Lee said Hicks's "first two albums have dated badly, with their adolescent potshots at inoffensive figures from popular culture, and self-conscious rock'n'roll cool.

"[80] A documentary titled American: The Bill Hicks Story, based on interviews with his family and friends, premiered on March 12, 2010, at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas.

[82] Crowe was originally thought to be playing the comedian, but Mark Staufer, the actor's schoolmate and writer on the film, suggested the part remained open for casting.

[84] On October 28, 2018, it was announced that Richard Linklater was set to direct a biopic about Bill Hicks for the film production company Focus Features.