Customer Reviews: Read 25 more reviews...
 king amongst clowns November 4, 2008
Marvin King (GB)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
One of the the greatest comedian's to ever picked up a mic.
Political, controversial, innovative and years ahead of his time.
Many have tried to imitate, and many have failed.
Bill was probably the main pioneer in progressive comedy having started in the late 70's as a teenager. With him it wasn't about throwing in gag after gag, it was anecdotal, observational, rebellious, controversial and clever, without being pretentious.
On seeing Bill now you might think 'what's so different', well the answer is simply 'nothing', but that's because 95 percent of comedians that have followed his untimely death of pancreatic cancer have simply copied the formula and subject matters crafted by the '16' year old kid experimenting with standup in his local comedy club.
Lot's of modern day comedian's state Bill as being a big influence on there career's and speak fondly of a comic giant taken away so young.
Bill gave his final performance 6th January 1994 at Caroline's in New York and on the 26th February 1994 the world began to laugh a little less, though he fought bravely, he succumb to his illness(32 years old) leaving behind a legacy few have been able to follow.
R.I.P Bill.
Hicks at his best. July 19, 2008
dynamitekid156 (Notts)
The last officially recorded concert by Bill Hicks before his death in early 1994, Revelations live at the Dominion Theatre is the finest of his limited DVD releases, coming as it does with the half-hour channel 4 documentary, Totally Bill Hicks.
Whilst it's not really the selling point here, Totally Bill Hicks is well worth watching. A brief overview of his career featuring minor interviews with many influential and imporant comedians (as well as great testimony by Jay Leno and David Letterman), the documentary is probably not something you want to watch in tandem with the main feature, as it does have a lot of clips from it contained within.
The Revelations performance itself, on the other hand, is quite literally Bill Hicks at his best. Having come within a whisper of his perfect live set by 1993, and in cantankerous mood having recently kicked cigarettes, Hicks stalks the stage, skinny and pale, unleashing his darkest, greatest material. Whilst Hicks can occasionally have a tendency to take something too far - he pounds his anti-marketing message a little too much - this DVD is probably his finest recorded moment, featuring the delightfully twisted Goat Boy and a razor-sharp extension of his material on drugs and smoking.
A curious documentary worth a watch or two, coupled with probably Bill Hicks' greatest officially recorded set, combine to make this DVD an essential purchase for any fan of Hicks or comedy.
 Good introduction May 24, 2008
Mr. M. J. Newby
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'd recommend that if you buy this you watch the gig half first, then the documentary. The documentary just takes interviews and intersperses them with sections from the performance so when you get to the performance you've already heard all the punchlines. In other words: Don't hit 'Play All'
Personally I thought the Goat Boy thing just awful.
Poorly produced DVD August 17, 2007
Brian Turmer
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Revelations is probably Bill Hick's best show on recording, so with the documentary this should be the greatest Bill Hicks DVD out there - but it isn't.
Revelations is seriously let down because the first 10 minutes or so of this issue have been badly edited, so rather than Bill coming on stage and the comedy keeps rolling, instead what we get is Bill on stage - cut to 30 secs later - cut to 30 secs later, etc. We never get to see Bill's feelings on leaving LA "Bye, Bill, we'll be good!" and the choppy editing is annoying.
But worst is that for some unfathomable reason, whoever edited Revelations on this DVD release also decided to fade in images from the background during Bill's performance. So we get to see a burning US flag suddenly fill the picture, and at another point, the head of a baby with accompanying child noises. It's distracting, annoying, and entirely pointless.
If you really want a recording of Revelations to view, don't buy this release - instead get a standalone which hasn't been butchered the way this one has.
 Almost Totally July 12, 2007
Donald Thompson (Belfast N Ireland)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Bill Hicks was that rare breed, an American who understood irony. Not only that, he used it to deflate sacred cows. Unfortunately his untimely death robbed all of us of an acerbic critic of all things morally questionable. In his, and my opinion that is. This perormance filmed in London, where he was better recieved than at home in the U.S. was one of the later performances from his career. His timing is spot on, his delivery, full of stagecraft is exemplary. Yet you get the sense tha something is just not right. His audience love him, but one or two of the jokes go over their heads. This is not an american audience, so some of the material has obviously been trimmed to match them. The subjects of his anger range from the military to Vanilla Ice, pause while those under 21 Google that, all are hit spot on. Brilliant though the show is, it leaves you wanting more. Which for a comedian is the highest praise you can get. Why this only gets 4 stars though is the Channel 4 documentary at the beginning. Watch the show then watch the doc. It makes more sense that way. The only irratations are the cut in shots during the stage show and the tacked on ending. Better to have let Bill finish in his usual style onstage. You will want to watch more of Bill after this, even if you have never seen or heard him before. A fine record of one of the funniest americans ever. Well worth adding to your collection.
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![Bill Hicks - Totally [1994]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41T2Y0RMW0L._SL160_.jpg)
