The performative value of standup comedy is in its inclusion of the audience in
the communicative moment; the audience member, at-home and live, exists as a
witness to the presentation of the comedian in the involuntary response of
laughter, an active and realized part of the comedic event. While there has been a
burgeoning amount of scholarly work surrounding the cultural significance of
standup comics and the literary implications of their work, there has been very
little scholarship assessing the work of comedian Bill Hicks, and none regarding
the final special filmed before his death, Revelations. In a world where a standup
comic has become the most popular interviewer of all time, and seven of the
most downloaded twenty-five podcasts in America are hosted by current or
former standup comedians, the link between the actual comedic event and the
larger scope of the comic’s influence is clear. Although scholars have correctly
identified standup comedy as a new literary and rhetorical form directing
consumers toward cultural and social change, and heterodoxic formulations of
thought, I will argue that this framework is incomplete. In order to wholistically
understand the influence of standup comedy on American culture, one must
correctly identify the religious nature of the comedian’s work and selfpresentation, specifically through the Judeo-Christian concepts of “messiah” and
“prophet.” Such a framework provides a language for the ritualistic response
within the prophetic moment, as well as the dual nature or reverence and
revulsion that consumers have for comedians. These concepts are archetypes,
and provide new language for interpreting both the work of Bill Hicks and the
standup comic in general. The comic claims to bear witness to the truth, and the
member of the audience participates in the prophetic moment by bearing witness
to the comedian, acting with him in ritualized movement. I will present a case
study and close reading of Bill Hicks’ televised special Revelations, evaluating
his comedy as a fulfillment of the prophetic archetype. When the standup comic
is understood prophetically, and the material understood through the lens of the
prophetic message, the consumer and the scholar are able to grasp the
foundations of the larger movement centered around the cultural figure of the
standup comic beyond the performative work; the larger movements amount to a
form of religious devotion, and the comic’s social commentary ceases to be
performative, but transformative. The devotion of acolytes to the extraperformative catalogue of comics like Dave Chapelle, Joe Rogan, and Hannah Gadsby form a larger cultural moment, for which Bill Hicks presented himself as
a forerunner and prototype.