One Night Stand

Living in the UK, I've only seen one of these shows (available here on VHS).

HBO commissioned this 30-minute special after Hicks' appearances on the Letterman show, and it shows. His scathing wit, biting satire and frequent diversions into profanity are toned down, and though some jokes hit the mark, this is NOT vintage Hicks. That said, there are moments of inspiration (existing largely in the uncensored material which comes direct from his club shows). For more worthy material, seek out the CD albums Relentless and Rant In E-Minor. One Night Stand is not a suitable tribute to this visionary figure.

The best episode was the Blake Clark episode. He is a hoot! I like comedians that talk about the government. To 1989 standards, where spending $100,000,000,000 on invisible bombers. The government has also been throwing away our tax money. He also talks about life in the south, but he moved to Los Angelous. Apparently the people of Los Angelous are confused about the English language in the south, such terms as "I'm fixing to get ready". The best episode! Some other pretty good episodes were the Bob Nelson episode and Ellen DeGenerous' first appearance who by the way isn't funny anymore. I think they should bring this show back because it was so good and gave each comedian there own episode unlike Premium Blend or Comic Groove where each comedian has five minutes to do there act. Bring back One Night Stand HBO!

My sister and I had the good fortune to attend the filming of four episodes at the Vic Theater in Chicago, back in 1990. We saw Rick Overton, Norm MacDonald, Jeff Marder, and Alan Havey. Naturally, those are my favorites, but I think I've watched most of the episodes listed here.

Norm MacDonald went on to a successful run with Saturday Night Live, but I'm not sure what happened to Jeff Marder. I occasionally see Alan Havey on the occasional commercial, most recently, a Wendy's commercial.

I highly recommend the One Night Stand series to any and all fans of stand up comedy. HBO really does bring the funny.