[neverending]

I have watched the series of videos on YouTube and they don't convince me. Sure, Leary is plowing the same comedic path as Hicks, but he's not doung a word for word transcription as the Hicks crowd claim. Some of the correlations they try to draw are tennuous at best. The show a clip of Hicks mentioning you can no longer smoke on planes, and then he goes off on a bit about kids running loose on planes. Then they cut to a clip of Leary doing a couple lines about smoking being banned on planes. Guess what? Other comedians ALSO do jokes about not being able to smoke on planes!

Other bits in the videos do have stronger links- but again- Leary is not doing Hicks act word for word. He puts his own spin on the bits he's borrowed. There's plenty of Hicks stuff Leary's NOT doing, and there's plenty of other material Leary is doing.

Did Leary take material from Hicks? Yes. Did he make it his own? Yes. Can Leary stand on his own? Yes.

I like them both.