Bill Hicks was perhaps the all-time greatest comedian; the comedian's comedian.

The legendary lost Letterman performance from 1993 was finally aired last month, here:

http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/02/david-letterman.html

The censorship of this back in 1993 caused a lot of upset to Hicks at the time as he was a staunch believer in freedom of speech and felt heavily betrayed by the TV comedy establishment which was ran by the same guys he had done the comedy circuits with over previous years.

He wrote letters to Letterman (no pun intended) and the network expressing his feelings on the matter but the censorship was never explained to him. He had watched as the Leno's and Letterman's rose to their compromised mainstream roles in professional despair, as he, relatively unnoticed, solidly stuck to his considered comedy: anarchic, political, witty, realistic and honest interpretations of the world he/we lived in and the oppressing regimes placed upon us. Sadly, Hicks died shortly after this affair aged 32.

Listening to his work and watching his performances today over 15 years later, little has changed with the governing of the world and the society issues Bill addressed. Today his comedy is as potent, vital, thought provoking, positive, relevant and as amusing as it ever was.

RIP Bill.

Oh and this looks interesting: http://americanthemovie.com/