Denis Leary was never 10% as funny on his best fuckin' day as Bill was on his worst. Denis completely stole from Hicks, in terms of appearance, jokes, and onstage demeanor. I remember someone asking Hicks about that once. He said something like, "Actually, it's all his material. I just fooled everyone by doing it first."
I like Leary as an actor, but as a comedian, he doesn't compare to Hicks at all.
Everyone's entitled to their opinion, so I apologize for souding like a dick. I just have a great deal of respect for Hicks's work, and find it a travesty that so few people knew of him before he died.
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WIKI VAPORIZER