The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Matters of life and death
It’s all funny business as Last Leg comic Adam Hills hits the road
Being hailed as the “nicest man in comedy” might well be a double-edged sword for Australian stand-up Adam Hills.
For one thing, it suggests this sword of his might lack a certain amount of edge, while for another, it’s no good people thinking that you’re really lovely if you don’t go ahead and show it
You suspect that he couldn’t care two hoots about the former and that the latter comes all too naturally for him.
“When I did my first Edinburgh Fringe in 1997, one reviewer said I performed ‘sun-drenched, celebratory comedy’,” Hills recalls.
“Sometimes you get a review and think: ‘Oh, so that’s what I do!’
“I always have to find a balance between being funny and positive but I want people to feel good for an hour and a half. That’s what it’s all about: getting people to leave the show feeling happy.”
It’s something Hills has been adept at achieving for the best part of his 20 years’ performing in the UK.
Among his upbeat-sounding shows are Go You Big Red Fire Engine, Happy Feet and Joymonger, while his TV credits include fronting a one-off revival of Fifteen to One and co-hosting Channel 4’s banter-filled The Last Leg (something of a comedy insider joke, given that Hills has a prosthetic one).
But it’s in the live arena where he clearly feels most at home.
“I love the freedom of live comedy. I have 60 minutes of material but every night I try and improvise another 30 minutes based on who’s in the crowd. Otherwise, I’d get bored doing the same show over and over again.
“I love the spontaneity of things happening in the moment and I genuinely like meeting people. I want them to have a lovely 90 minutes and then float out of the room.”
With his new show Clown Heart, Hills’ blend of personal material and warm audience interaction will once again be put on display.
“It’s about what’s going on in my life, having kids and losing parents.
“It’s sometimes a tough area to go into but the crux of this show is about when my daughter was four and asking about death because my father had just passed away.
“She asked: ‘Am I going to die?’ and I replied: ‘Yes but how about we have as much fun as we can because we’re here?’.”
Hills insists that Clown Heart is best viewed as a show about laughing in the face of death.
“We all know that death is going to have the last laugh, so we have to get in there first. A lot of palliative care nurses have said to me that my message strikes a chord with them. And that’s lovely to hear.”