“On the theft of his material by Denis Leary: "I have a scoop for you. I stole his act. I camouflaged it with punchlines, and to really throw people off, I did it before he did.” ― Bill Hicks
Denis Leary lifted segments of Bill Hicks act, re-worded it and perfomed it at a faster tempo. Which led to people referring to him as Bill Hicks on speed. Material such as "jim fix, cigerette warnings, and heavy metal records backwards are just a few examples of entire segments he lifted from Bill Hicks act - he simply re-worded it. He also lifted the mock shooting of himself at the end of his show directly from bill hicks shows aswell as hick's "famous people dying" segment. But leary did write some genuinly good material of his own. I remember a few years ago a few friends came round to my house for a meal. Afterwards we sat down and played xbox. We got into a discussion and they happened to mention by pure chance this show. When i told them that Leary had stole alot of stuff off Bill Hicks they wouldn't believe me. So i showed them all of Bill Hicks stand up dvds skipping to the parts that i knew Leary had stole. Being die hard Leary fans they knew his material off by heart. When they saw Bill Hicks performing Learys act they thought the shows must have been done afterwards. I then showed them the exact dates the shows were performed as its written on the inside sleeve of the dvds. I proved to them that Hicks shows were done years before Learys. They were forced to admit i was right. (Grudgingly).
+Shauni Williams I've quickly googled these guys' stuff and I have to say their material isn't that alike at all. People think just talking about the same topic is the same as stealing jokes. The punchlines were all different. The delivery and timing were far from the same. If you disagree you are gonna have to post links because I just can't find any that prove Leary actually stole the jokes.
kenneth mabie It would be cool if there was a link to that deleted scene but ultimately it doesn't matter as it doesn't prove joke stealing. I also don't care about a wiki page that speculates joke stealing. I want just one video that shows Leary say a joke that is the exact same as Hicks. People say their personae were the same but I watched like a good 20 videos of each comedian and they aren't anything alike. Leary is a loud mouth who uses his energy and presence to create the humour. Hicks is more fine tuned. He has a softer tone and everything he says is for shock value. He likes to surprise you with the things he says and that is where his humour lies. Both these guys are more like Sam Kinison than they are like each other. I looked this guy up after someone accused Hicks of copying him. Personally I don't think Hicks was copying either. They are similar sure but that doesn't make them copies.
+hippie chic actually, he did have a problem with Leary stealing his material, infact it ruined their friendship, a journalist asked hicks he said said "here's the scoop, i stole his material, performed it first and camouflaged it with punchlines."
As comedian myself it sickens me to hear that Dennis Leary stole jokes from Bill Hicks Because not only did he break the number one rule in comedy he stole from an absolute Legend
Leary is a hack and a thief. He stole the gist of Bill's show. Hicks was aware of this and made mention of this on The Dennis Miller Show. It's pretty funny. Long Live Bill Hicks and originality that doesn't cater to commercialism. R.I.P.
chippchipp1 nope that was leary. louis called dane in 2011 to say that he felt the accusations against him stealing had gotten out of hand. so he wrote an entire scene about it in his show, to make it clear he didnt think dane stole from him.
***** It was both of them, they were separate bits. Leary turned Louis CK's bit about being an asshole into the song. People accuse Dane Cook of stealing a bit about having an itchy asshole.
I remember reading Hicks's biography where he listened to Leary's CD and heard how it was 90% Hicks's act, I think Hicks confronted the guy and Leary just basically said nothing, like he knew Hicks knew but wasn't going to admit it, and just stopped speaking to Hicks. That's some sociopathic shit right there.
Notice how soon after Hicks died that Leary stopped doing comedy and is a make-up wearing actor? I wonder where he got those skills of taking something someone else wrote and performing it?
George Clinton Denis had another comedy album come out in 97 nobody seems to mention it when accusing him of stealing.I like Hicks and Leary both are funny but totally different comedians
Yeah I remember when I had never heard of Hicks and saw a Leary standup. Thought Dennis Leary was a fuckin genius how he was semi conservative and still got me to laugh. Then I learned of Hicks about a year or so ago and it all comes into perspective when you watch it. Same with Menstealia, You can see the tranparency of a guy when you see how he's funneling material. I'm mad I was ever duped.
Listen to Carlin throughout the years, it's everchanging. He started as a "clean" shaven, run-of-the-mill one-liner comic, and gradually evolved to the harsher, more agressive Carlin. It evolved both before and after Hicks and I have never seen Hicks in his act.
Leary stole jokes ,did a lot screaming and shouting with his delivery to camouflage it , but other comics knew , I saw Bill Hicks shows long before I saw Leary, Hicks was at another level , Leary couldn't even dream of even though he stole lots of stuff from Bill .
Bill Hicks lived his life experience and Brilliant Sharing through Oxymoronic Banter of Humor~ for Leary to lift any material from Hicks all I can say Karma will Bite His Ass in Integrity Hands Down! Hicks had Depth of Soul and willing to go deep no matter what. He questioned life on many levels and gifted to Kiss the Deception of in Society Cloaked in Truth & Peel the Veil Away to Shine a Raw Amber Light to Question Everything ~ His Greatest Gift! Rare a Comic Talent that Really Plays the Court Jester to Expose Truth Eyes Wide Open in Society With Out Fear but Empowerment to Share~ Through Humor an Oxymoron a Mirror to Your Own Empowerment ~ Miss You Dearly Hicks RIP
I found a video of Denis doing an early recorded stand up bit from 1984 cigarette in hand it was obvious he was just starting out and his act was unpolished but he definitely didn’t steal his act from Bill Hicks.There is another video from Rascals comedy club in 1990 which Denis is doing many bits that would be recorded for no cure in 1993.
I think Joe Rogan is better at talking about comedy than he is performing it. He's obviously very passionate and knowledgeable about the subject. He's just not particularly funny.
The problem with comics is that they let this shit slide; in a way that say the music industry wouldn't..stealing a joke is bad but basing your career of other peoples material is inexcusable. The Leary's and Mencia's of this world make it big because nobody exposed them for who they are EARLY ON in their career. By the time they get their own shows they know its hard for the small guys to speak u 'cause nobody would believe them.
They lifted Ralphie into the studio w/a 40 ton crane. He seems like a good dude. The Lindora "plateau diet" might work or make just say fuck-it.... go to Pizza Hut and order the whole right side of the menu. Go ahead and add the breadsticks, wings, Chocolate 3x brownie, Meaty rotini, everything. Put it on the AmEx. Who cares, right?
FUCK! I hate it when someone's about to say something and someone interupts them and they never get to say it. What happened when Ralphie opened up for Hicks? I love you Joe but yer killin' me.
being from Croatia, I discovered Bill Hicks only after he died, if I knew of him before he passed away, I'd have paid a plane ticket to go watch him live.
Actually, that's been clarified when Leary came on the show. Another guy wrote that song with Leary, so it really wasn't possible for him to steal it and Louis apologized to the other guy.
It is absolutely sickening to see someone making a living from material they have stolen from you. A British comedian did this to me and to make it worse talked a load of shit about me. It pisses me off because he is a millionaire who's just made a load of money off my humour and i'm struggling to find any income at all. It's not just him either and not just comedy, which is why I believe people are fundamentally evil.
@MundyArtStudio he was on the biggest looser tv show and lost something like 130 pounds a few years ago. After the tv show he was working out injured himself "I cant remember what he injured" and put all that weight back on and them some. Its kinda sad because he seems like a real cool dude and he is one of the most funniest mother fuckers out there.
People hating on Ralphie: Why? He's a good comedian and a really nice guy. Are you those types who will just hate based on appearance? And to those insulting his ability to pull women, his wife is actually pretty hot and funny as shit.
@darraghkane who's Billy Connolly ? I've heard of Lenny Bruce, George Carlin and Bill Hicks, who were all brilliant and much more than comedians, more like philosophers, as well.....Leary couldn't hold the microphone for any of them.
That's a Huge assumption about a person you have never met before . I have created more than a few things in my life and I agree with tramoliter . Bill never said anything about Denis taking his material bothering him but he did make a joke about it in a video here in YT ; Bill said ( something to the point of ) " I don't know about Denis steeling my material ....but I think I stole some of his ".I don't think that was word for word but it was said light heartedly ....Bill had definite class .
