Since we're chatting about comics other than Hicks, my current favorites are Doug Stanhope, Bill Burr and Louis CK. Any recommendations for a fan of these comedians?
He's the only comedian that's been able to cross the, "whoa that's so ****ed up I can't laugh at it" line for me. And for that I have to respect his skills. The bit about the two-headed baby in Deadbeat Hero.
What often happens is that the first person to do something ends up being surpassed by the people he influences and then his stuff does not look so hot as year pass. A great example is Ernest Hemingway. Many of his novels, you read them and you are like, this is written with a very simplistic style. It's quite ordinary and overrated. Except that this style did not exist before he invented. When the Sun Also Rises was published it was like The Beatles Revolver. Another example would be a horror movie like Psycho, if you see it now it's totally standard. At the time it was created it was revolutionary.