Love, laughter and truth

You can often tell the quality of a piece of art by the calibre of those who appreciate it: if great musicians pour praise on a new band, you'll listen to their album. If exceptional actors flock to a movie, you'll go and watch it.

Funny then, that Bill Hicks - the man who regularly tops polls as the comedian's favourite comedian - remains an underground figure.

Hicks's fans include Eddie Izzard, Clive Anderson, Chris Rock and The Simpsons' creator Matt Groening. Like many US comedy greats, he initially found more fame this side of the Atlantic and his impact on the scene led to lionisation by Brit comedy royalty: John Cleese said Hicks was the most exciting comedian he had seen in decades.

But ten years ago on February 26, at the age of 32, Hicks's life was cut tragically short by pancreatic cancer.

Since his death, the comedian's anti-corporate, anti-censorship doctrine has become a quasi-religion, prompting Radiohead, for one, to dedicate their seminal album The Bends to his memory.

'People admire those who stand up for principles and fight injustice,' says writer and comedian Mark Steel. 'Bill Hicks showed comedians that what they do isn't meaningless. There are many people far more famous than him, but you won't see tributes on the tenth anniversary of their deaths.'

Although primarily remembered as a rabble-rousing social crusader, Hicks was, above all, a classic funny man, feeding off his exquisitely selected influences - notably Richard Pryor and Woody Allen - to develop a complete jocular artillery. His timing was immaculate, his one-liners were scathing ('Ever noticed that people who believe in creationism look really unevolved?') and he created some hilarious characters. Most, such as the infamous Randy Pan the Goat Boy, were rooted in his Deep South Baptist upbringing. 'Once you've found the pattern, you break it. Otherwise it gets boring,' said John Lennon, one of Hicks' heroes - and the humourist set about this task with gusto.

Hicks criticised his audiences ('You remind me of a dog that's been shown a card trick') and went places the comedy rule book states you just shouldn't go ('If you're so pro-life, do me a favour - don't block abortion clinics, OK?

Lock arms and block cemeteries'). Although Hicks lost some of his audience with his often loathsome style, those who stayed with him became more and more engrossed in his work.

It wasn't just traditional comic technique that Hicks learned back to front and then smashed to pieces. His subject matter may look staid on paper - drugs, pornography, smoking, ridiculing the establishment - but his approach to each was revolutionary.