A) I defy you, right now, to tell me exactly how Hicks stole from Carlin. I am a huge fan of both, and I'd be very interested to see how you prove this one. Their approaches were entirely different. You may as well say that Carrot Top got his material from Lenny Bruce.
B) Hicks had a much more confrontational approach and was trying to get people to laugh while taking a good look at themselves. It's easy to get the crowd to identify with you when you can just get them to sing along with the "Asshole" song.
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Deepthroat choke