Pamela Johnson
Tim Simpson
cancer at her home near Huntsville, Texas. She was 46.
D
- D
"Tim Simpson" <tim...@clownschool.org> wrote in message
news:Xns9362C3DE4F78Dti...@216.166.71.230...
T Bone
Tim Simpson
road with him for quite some time, and lived with him in New York. If
you read the book "American Scream" she was described as a "Blanch
Dubois" type. She was older than Bill and had two boys.
She was my cousin, but she spent most of her life in Houston, and I've
spent mine in Los Angeles. I had the honor of meeting Bill on a number
of occasions when he would work in L.A. When he did his stint at the
Tropicana for Rodney Dangerfield, my wife and I came out as his guests.
Pamela and Bill split while they were living in New York. She went back
to Houston and re-married the father of her two boys, who at that time
were pretty much grown. She told me that Bill called her out of the blue
one day and told her that he way dying of cancer. She thought it had to
be a joke at first. But, he just seemed different. He just told her how
much he had appreciated everything she had ever done for him, and he
wanted to say goodbye. Then he died very soon after that.
Bill and Pamela had a lot in common. Both had a very dark and troubled
side. Pamela also fought addiction most of her life. Then, like Bill,
she ended up dying young from Cancer. Hers was in her spine.
"T Bone" <slug...@bigpond.com> wrote in news:Hquoa.18385$1s1.285657
@newsfeeds.bigpond.com:
lm...@home.se
] Pamela and Bill met in Houston. She was a hair stylist.
"Someone needs to die"
John Curtin
at tim...@clownschool.org wrote on 4/20/03 10:28 AM:
Sad news Tim, sorry for your loss.
--
Curtin
Covenant
Respectfully adding my condolences.
Joe
doohic...@yahoo.com
manager shortly before he died. Is Pamela Johnson related to the "Eric
Johnson" Hicks mentions during his routine about Waco and David
Koresh?
What is it with Bill Hicks and cancer? He constantly makes reference
to cancer in his routines, years before he was diagnosed. He talks
about how his mom is always discussing cancer. He talks about lung
cancer and Yul Brynner's noggin. Then he goes and dies of cancer.
Did the Hicks family grow up near a leaky power plant?
doohic...@yahoo.com
("what is it with Bill Hicks and cancer?") do not seem too glib. They
are not meant to be. Bill Hicks' comedy has had a strong impact on my
life.
Tim Simpson
lived with him in New York. Johnson was the name from her first husband
who fathered her two boys, so she kept the name. After she broke up with
Bill, she remarried her first husband. Their two boys were raised
mostly by my Aunt (Pam's mother). A large chunk of that time was while
Bill and Pam were on the road.
I had meant to read "American Scream" for a while and didn't get around
to it until a few days after Pamela died. I was curious to see if the
book would mention her at all. It did, quite extensively.
I was amused to read that when Bill and Pam lived in New York, my Aunt
sent them a TV, a Bed and a credit card for them to use. Pam and her
mother had a very co-dependent type relationship.
I remember meeting Bill for the first time. I live in L.A., and everyone
here is an up and coming young singer/actor/songwriter/comedian/whatever.
They come and go so fast, and you get to a point where meeting the next
one doesn't really phase you. I remember he came with Pam to L.A. to
stay at her sister Pat's house. Pat and I were working together at the
time, and the next day at work she mentioned how strange she found Bill.
She figured that if he were a comedian he should be "funny". But, he was
just this normal, kind of quiet guy. Not unfriendly, just normal to the
point where you wouldn't imagine that he would be a performer.
A few months later, we all went out to Las Vegas to see Bill perform at
the Tropicana. Suddenly, this quiet guy we met at Pat's house was "on"
and talking about pussy, and saying words like "fuck" and "cocksucker",
and guys from the south marrying their sister. Pat was mortified. But,
I loved it. Pamela came over and mentioned to us that Bill had a cleaner
set that he did when his parents came to see him. I was glad his parents
weren't there that night. I don't remember a single other comedian from
that night, but, I can remember what Bill did with great clarity.
It reminded me of another time I accidentally saw a brilliant
performance. Around 1976-77 someone gave me some tickets to a TV taping
of a new show called "Van Dyke and Company". It was a short lived career
revival for Dick Van Dyke. I don't remember anything about the show,
except that he had a guy on they called "Mr. Andy" who sang to a "Mighty
Mouse" record, and did this killer Elvis out of nowhere.
Of course, Bill and Andy had nothing in common except they were both
called comedians and they both died young of cancers that they weren't
really candidates for.
doohic...@yahoo.com wrote in news:3eb1ddc8.10588375
@news.inetworld.net:
doohic...@yahoo.com
appeared from the inside. Based on the routines I've seen, I do get
the impression that Hicks was not "on" all the time. In one of his
late routines, he mentions that he's not that quick on his feet, and
that "it's an illusion." The only comedian I've ever met who really is
"on" all the time is a guy named The Zooman, and let me tell you, it
gets old quickly (though it is useful for him -- helps him come up
with new material).
I, too, have met a number of up-and-coming performers in the Los
Angeles area. At first I was very excited to know them, and I was sure
that at least one of them would get a big break and then I could say
"I knew back when she was starting." But I was merely caught up in
somebody else's fantasy. The people who are definitely not going to
make it are the people who can't even get the basics down, such as
making sure they are always 100% prepared before a performance. If you
don't have discipline you might as well stay in Podunk, Iowa, or
wherever. I get the feeling that while Bill may have let other parts
of his life meander, he rarely took his chosen occupation for granted.
Just a hunch.
--Zak
On Sun, 04 May 2003 17:18:23 -0500, Tim Simpson
Tim Simpson
gigs. The first time I met him, I had heard he was a comedian, and
again, here in L.A. you hear that a lot from guys who basically have done
a couple of talent shows. We live in the Valley, and he got on the phone
as the evening was winding down and booked himself at the Ice House in
Pasadena. Then he got in his car and drove away. I was pretty aware
that guys from Texas didn't just get a spot at the Ice House with a phone
call, unless they had some kind of reputation.
I guess the point I'm making is that he did have discipline when it came
to his craft. He was just visiting Pam's family, but when it looked like
the rest of us were going to fade off to bed, Bill went to work.
doohic...@yahoo.com wrote in
news:3eb76c67...@news.inetworld.net:
marcobi...@gmail.com
I hope you can reply to me..
jacop...@gmail.com
> Hi Tim, I'd love to have a chat with you as soon as you can please..I'm writing about Bill and Pamela, I got a letter written by Bill to her, and I'm translating it in italian..
> I hope you can reply to me..