Friend writes 'definitve biography'

Bill Hicks’s lifelong friend has written what he claims is the definitive biography of the stand-up legend.

Kevin Booth was a schoolboy friend of Hicks, who accompanied him on his secret trips to the Comedy Workshop in his homeown of Houston, Texas, where Bill made his debut at the age of 14.

They remained close, “sharing every experience from magic mushrooms to girls”,  as well as a love of comedy. Booth produced many of Hicks’s recordings and set up a company, Sacred Cow, to promote them.

Now his book Agent Of Evolution is being published by HarperCollins in the UK on March 21. There are no immediate plans to release it in the States, reflecting the fact he could never find the popularity in his own country that he enjoyed in Britain.

Its release follows the success of the 2002 biography by Cynthia True, American Scream, which offered a factual telling of his life story, but which many fans feel failed to capture his firey spirit.

The book will be priced £18.99, but Amazon are offering £7.60 off for pre-orders. Click here.

Published: 16 Jan 2005