Review: Adam Hills: Happyism
Venue: York Theatre Royal, November 8, 2013
Australian comedian Adam Hills is perhaps best known in the UK as the one legged guy from Channel 4’s The Last Leg. On his latest tour of Britain, titled Happyism, Adam Hills is out to spread good cheer, to look at what it is to be happy.
An almost sold out crowd awaited Hills in York, the whole theatre abuzz, only to have him wander out on stage with no fanfare, no big announcement, just a cheery wave and a hello. A very relaxed start to a very funny show.
Hills is much more laid back in person than he has been on The Last Leg recently, starting the show with a chat with the audience, and a flick through a couple of Tweets.
The fact that Hills is Australian in Britain gives him a genuine interest in things like our place names, on this occasion Wetwang and Goole. Supply your own dirty punch lines.
Last night's "choir" in York featured Wetwangs and Goolies #happyism pic.twitter.com/62eyYIP7Z6
— Adam Hills (@adamhillscomedy) November 9, 2013
Hills’ style shows that he has spent his time in the trenches of comedy clubs around the world, including anecdotes about how Americans think he does comedy “wrong” because he has a genuine interaction with his audience rather than just reeling off his material at them.
I warmed to him immediately, especially when he moved the Wetwang residents into the royal boxes, because why the hell not?
What followed was nearly two hours of clever, relaxed, and most of all very, very funny comedy going from a drunk heckler to meeting the Dalai Lama and The Muppets via horrible appearances on American TV.
The show is a call to arms, that we should all embrace the good in our lives, not take ourselves too seriously and “touch the frog”. Without wanting to give too much away, the overriding message is if you have an opportunity to appear with The Muppets, don’t let your ego get in the way.
Highly recommended!
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