The Blind Stagger(a life in tickets)

Well, what can I say about Bill Hicks that hasn’t already been said?  Was he a genius?  Possibly.  Was he funny?  Absolutely.  Is he missed?  Yes.

But would he have sold out?  Well, who knows…

Bill Hicks made quite an impression on my teenage self when I first saw his Relentless show on Channel 4 in early 1992.  I was captivated from start to finish, and when I found out he was playing in Glasgow I had to get myself along to see him.  I talked a bunch of people into coming along (Eddie M, Paul D, John B, Mark C, and Ramond K) and picked up some tickets.

I’ve kept most tickets from the gigs/shows I’ve seen over the years (as you’ll discover if you come back to read some more), but the one I regret not keeping is this one.  If only to prove to people that I was actually there to see him in person.  Although, to be fair, no one has doubted me.  The reaction (from Hicks fans anyway) is usually, “Wow… what was it like?”  And the answer is that it was pretty much like you see on the videos or hear on the CDs, but with added digs at Rangers fans.

He’d also stopped smoking by this point, which caused some friction with the audience.  Someone kept throwing cigarettes on to the stage till he picked one up.  He took a long look at it, and said, “Huh… this one has B & H written on it… that’s how much I smoked: they even named some of them after me.”

I’ll leave you with some words from Bill himself (this is from the Revelations show, which was filmed around the same time as the gig at the Pavilion).

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Popularly known as the unfunny pair from The Mary Whitehouse Experience, I always preferred Punt & Dennis to their cooler brethren.  For a start, they actually performed as a double-act, which Newman & Baddiel only did now and again (for things like the History Today segments).  Also, they knew they were the uncool pair, and didn’t try to hide it.

This was a hilarious show… from what I remember, the only time I stopped laughing was at the interval, and even then I kept laughing while watching Paul D try to manoeuvre himself down the exceptionally steep stairs of the Pavilion’s Upper Balcony.

As well as a whole load of material that wasn’t shown on telly, all the hits from TMWE were here, including Mr Strange (the Milky Milky guy), dancing like your dad, and Hugh’s Teddy…

I remember buying the video of this tour when it came out too, and it never got old.  For years afterwards, Eddie M and I were repeating random lines of dialogue, like “Pop!”, “Oh p-p-p-pick up a penguin!  Oh f-f-f-fuck off!” and “Don’t follow me, or you’ll end up at my house.” to each other.

Incidentally, we also tried to get tickets for Baddiel & Newman (at the same venue a couple of weeks later) but it was sold out.  Told you they were cooler.  I did manage to see Rob Newman many years later, but have never seen David Baddiel, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as he’s now been the unfunny one in two different double-acts (with Messrs Newman and Skinner).

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