Dangerous
America was robbed of one its great comic minds when Bill Hicks died of pancreatic cancer in 1994. Hicks was a sharpshooter who picked worthy targets and hit every one--whether gunning for sellout celebrities ("demons set loose on the earth to lower the standards"), hypocritical health nuts, or his own "goober dad." Hicks's 1990 debut is the sound of the comedian just warming up his loose cannon. He was as compassionate as he was vicious, asking for a little more logic and a lot less idiocy from this "retarded nation that we are." "Listen, read, calm down, relax, shut up," he urged fans--and suggested, without asking for a laugh, using defense money to feed and clothe the poor. End of (expletive deleted) story.--Michael Ruby