There Are Still People Who Believe Bill Hicks Became Alex Jones

The most enduring comedy conspiracy theory is probably “Andy Kaufman faked his death as an elaborate prank.” If that one is true, give Kaufman credit for committing to the bit — he’s had more than 40 years to reappear and yell “Gotcha!” But considering Kaufman would be 76 by now, perhaps we can lay that one to rest.

Another belief that’s so crazy that it must be true? How about the story that made the rounds in the 2010s that liberal comedian Bill Hicks faked his death so that he could resurface as far-right troublemaker Alex Jones?

Blogger Eric Dubay dismissed the theory when he first saw it swirling around the discussion boards, telling one commenter that Hicks/Jones was “the stupidest internet meme ever.” But later, Dubay concluded he’d spoken too soon. 

Dubay, who still has a site devoted to “exposing the global conspiracy from Atlantis to Zion,” apologized in 2013 for not believing the Hicks/Jones theory at first. “There is certainly much more evidence for this claim than I’d originally realized,” he wrote (though he’s since deleted the post). 

What’s the proof? Dubay pointed to online videos that exposed the physical similarities between the two men. “Their facial recognition matches 100%,” he claims, “only it appears Alex has had a nose job and gotten considerably fatter than Bill ever was.”

But wait, there’s more! Hicks “died” in 1994, but had no public funeral. Alex Jones came on the scene shortly thereafter, “and has no verifiable history before 1994.” (I dunno — Jones’s Wikipedia page has a pretty thorough history of his early years.) 

Then there’s the name letter-count similarities — Bill and Alex both have four letters; Hicks and Jones both have five. Startling, but by that logic, Hacks star Jean Smart is also Alex Jones. 

AV Club wrote about a video making the rounds in 2014 that claimed Hicks and Jones were one and the same. Unsurprisingly, the writer wasn’t buying it despite the convincing “they have the same teeth!” argument: “Hicks and Jones admittedly do share a passing similarity in looks, and both are given to passionate oratory, but Hicks existed on a wildly different side of the political divide than Jones. It also bears repeating that Hicks died 20 years ago, while Jones is a person who is alive, but don’t let’s get bogged down with such ‘red herring’ details.”

In case you’re chalking this up to some mid-2010s trolling, know that YouTubers still can’t get enough. In the past year alone, a number of videos have been posted that try to prove (or ridicule) the theory. There’s even a 15-video “Alex Jones is Bill Hicks” playlist, if you want to take a deep dive into the similarity in moles on their respective necks. 

I won’t try to convince you either way — there’s enough evidence online for you to draw your own conclusions. But if you actually swallow the “Hicks is Jones” theory, remind me to tell you the one about Paul from The Wonder Years becoming Marilyn Manson. 

Get more Cracked directly to your inbox. Sign up for Cracked newsletters at Cracked News Letters Signup.