American: The Bill Hicks Story Page #8

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And he had been a comic for seven years.

Coming to LA was such a romantic

and meaningful and emotional experience

and then leaving was like a thief in the night

with every possession he has

streaming out of the back of his car,

Bill in his leather jacket with his guitar

and me going away with a knapsack to Oregon

just glad to be the hell out of there.

And knowing that we both had all the tools

we needed for the rest of our lives.

For Bill, that period in Los Angeles was when

he solidified his identity as a stand-up comic.

You know, it taught him how to be on his own,

to take his comedy seriously,

that this was what he was

gonna do for the rest of his life.

It strengthened him and wised him up.

But even when

he went to LA the first time,

I don't think Bill had really found his voice.

You could be liked and you could be doing

well, but that day you find your voice...

The difference is night and day.

Bill called me

and I thought he was still in LA.

He's like, "Guess what" and I was like, "What?"

He goes, "I'm here."

I was like, "What?" and he goes, "Yeah,

I'm here in Houston and guess what else.

"Me and you are gonna take

psychedelic mushrooms tonight. "

I was like, "Yeah, that's funny, Bill."

He's like, "No, Kevin,

it's not what you think it is. "

And if there was the only person

that could talk me into doing it, it was Bill.

And we took some mushrooms

in this vegetarian restaurant,

and we just laughed our asses off.

Only Bill would try hallucinogenics

before he tried alcohol.

He just had a whole new appetite, you know.

"I want to try everything."

When he came back to Texas

realising that the difference between where

he was and say where Richard Pryor was,

was a way big thing,

way bigger than he'd thought,

he knew that he was gonna

have to break moulds

and that it wasn't just enough

that he was the baby-faced kid.

And I don't think he knew exactly

where it was that he had to get to,

but he just knew that he wasn't there yet.

I think we left as kids

and came back as real seasoned comics.

Some sort of forces were moving

people from Houston together.

There were so many kindred spirits

and other comics

that made Houston different

from other parts of the country.

How many guys in here

just broke up with my girlfriend?

There were six of us at the time,

and it was founded by Steve Epstein.

I was more of the court jester

in a sense in that I was kind of goofy.

I... I say, Steve Epstein

was driving a 78 rabbit!

Ooh-orr!

He'd just flap around

like an unattended fire hose

but he got everything going.

Andy Huggins we met in LA.

I had a feeling Andy was more like

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