Today sees the 14th anniversary of the passing of, in my opinion, one of the greatest Stand Up Comedians who ever lived - Bill Hicks. He died in 1994 aged 32 from Pancreatic Cancer and performed comedy that REALLY made you think. It is just as relevant today as it was back in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s. Go find his stuff about the first Gulf War and think about the current “War On Terror”, especially before Iraq came under US Control.
RIP, Bill! I, for one, still wonder what you’d be saying about the world today.
Here, as a wee taster, are a few clips of Bill Hicks in action. Enjoy.
Just a quick post to say that tomorrow night at 7pm sees the fifth season of BBC3's hit show "The Real Hustle" start off with 2 back-to-back episodes. This time, our 3 friendly hustlers - Paul Wilson, Alexis Conran and Jessica Jane Clement - hit Las Vegas to see if they can swindle the people and visitors of Sin City out of their hard-earned cash and goods.
As some of you will know, I've known Paul for more years than he or I probably care to admit but I cannot help but have to double check that it really is one of my closest friends that is on TV every time the show is on. It sounds like a great series and considering the time, work and effort that Paul and Alex - along with their collaborators - put in to writing it and the 3 performers put into doing the scams, I'm sure it will be.
One of my favourite bands is a group of lads from Bradford called Terrorvision. They played rock music like it was supposed to be played - LOUD! Sadly, in 2001, they decided enough was enough and, disillusioned by the music industry, decided to go their separate ways. Apart from a couple of wee semi-reuniouns, that was it. Well, we thought.
Last November, Terrorvision reformed, got themsleves an official MySpace page which was -and is - updated on a regular basis and even did a few gigs in the Midlands and North of England. They've now announced a few more gigs, this time in the South of England. I feel like I'm missing out here on one of my favourite bands! Sure, I could go see them down south, but the gigs that have either been or are coming up all clash with stuff I'm doing. Bit of a pain.
So, I guess the reason for this particular blog is an impassioned plea from one Terrorvision fan to the band to please, please get yourselves up to Glasgow. Heck, why not do what you did the first time I saw you - go to a wee club somewhere (maybe Kilmarnock? Hint!) and blow everyone away with a storming set.
And for those of you that want to know who and what I'm on about, here's a couple of my favourites as performed at one of their gigs last November.
Alice, What's The Matter
Bad Actress
Oblivion
Hope you enjoyed them. Now all I need is to be able to see them doing these songs live in front of me! I'll keep you posted.
I know I haven’t posted for a wee bit, but I've not been up to anything much that is Blogg-able (if that is, indeed, a word!). However, the Blackpool Convention is not too far away, so I'll make up for lack of posts then.
Anyway, I wanted to mention that I am presenting my “A Force Much Greater Than Luck” lecture at Forth Valley Magic Circle on Monday 18th February 2008 at their regular meeting place, the Station Hotel, Larbert, Falkirk and starts around 7:30pm.
