Slightly late to the party, but to give the Stewart Lee piece a bit more substance - that Bill Hicks piece is approx a sixth of that routine and you need to hear the lot for it to make sense.
I saw him do this earlier this year, Iām a great Hicks fan and it wasnāt insulting him at all.
It started off as something to do with the death rates of comedians, depression, the pressure of producing new stuff and the suicide rate among performers - mainly because of us.
It might even have referenced musicians who die young and never have to produce that third or fourth album.
Cheery stuff!
Itās all part of Leeās consistent demand that the audience ups its game and gets jokes - he then blames performer deaths on stupid audiences.
From what I vaguely recall he then explained how every night he is pushed onto the stage by the ghosts of dead comedians, and picks his way between their spirits to get to the microphone - some of whom encourage him to end it all and he hears their voices.
This bit really works when a joke fails and you see him look around at one of these ghosts who in his mind is obviously telling him to end it all and he argues with them.
It is subtle stuff that needs more than a snatch of Youtube to justify, though i understand that some people still wonāt like it, it just needing some explaining.
You had to be there!
Either way, the legend of Hicks survives.
And boy does the world need him now!