Life Is Only a Dream: RIP Bill Hicks

Fifteen years ago today, we lost one of our native sons and one of the funniest, smartest sons-of-bitches that ever stood before a microphone.

Bill Hicks, comedian and satirist, was born in Valdosta, Georgia but spent his formative years in Houston, graduating form Stratford High School and attending the University of Houston. He began performing at the famous Comedy Workshop with friend and filmmaker Kevin Booth in 1978 when he was only 17 years old. The Comedy Workshop -- although now closed -- was a breeding ground in the 1980s for his fellow young, subversive comedic talents such as the late Sam Kinnison.

Hicks moved to Los Angeles when he was 19, but quickly returned to the Bayou City in 1983. He continued to work with the Comedy Workshop while also co-founding ACE Production Company, known today as Sacred Cow Productions. A year later, he made his first of twelve appearances on Late Night with David Letterman after being spotted by a talent scout while performing his stand-up act in Houston. His iconoclastic, angry-young-man bravado and deeply intelligent diatribes were very well-received by audiences across the nation, and Hicks shot to fame after his first appearance on Letterman. He would go on to release nine albums and five videos of comedy routines in addition to appearing on HBO's One Night Stand.