Re: Bill Hicks..
Yes, the no-name down-market Hicks Shit is definitely more personable than the high cost Brand Shit, more flexible, durable, even re-usable. I saw Hicks shit once, and it was one of the funniest things I ever saw (he probably had a similar impression, as I was balanced between stalls with my bulging eyes sticking over the opening that was barely big enough to squeeze my head through). Laughing, dancing turds doing impersonations of the Rockettes (but with cigarettes in their ummm... mouthlike orifices) and little snippets of Springtime for Hitler (if you've never seen poop-laden lederhosen short-shorts, well, it was a treat, almost as good as their floater sailboat skipper routine) - slicker than whale shit in an ice floe, as Robin Williams used to say.
As for influence, I'd have to disagree - sadly, these turds could barely make their way in show business - no knack for the glad handing, back slapping side of the business (if you can imagine), and while they made a noted mark in the short run, they were gradually pushed aside for more economical, eco-friendly turdlets and the trend towards efficiency supermodels - American Big Lots' influence, you know, along with those special Chinese container ships that can stack up big ol' logs like firewood. The curmudgeonly might say the Hicks' spawn were the more talented, and certainly cuter, but you can't fight progress nor City Hall - sadly, Hicks' shit went the way of the buffalo once strewn across the prairies of the great wide open.