I've just listened to a few of his records for the first time and he was really, really something.

Dead of pancreatic cancer at age 32. And he couldn't stop performing:

On January 5, 1994 - against McGarr's wishes - Hicks did the eight o'clock show at Caroline's Comedy Club in New York. In her attempt to prevent Hicks from doing the gig, McGarr rang Donovan. "Colleen, Bill is ready to die. He just won't lie down," Donovan told her. She hung up on him. Hicks was about 30 minutes into his set when he looked up over the microphone and scanned the crowd. "Colleen, are you out there?" he said.

The Guardian has this tribute.