One of the Carlsberg Cat Laughs Comedy Festival greats happens to be one of the comedy festival’s most affable comedians.
Aussie Adam Hills is renowned for his comic ability and also for his inoffensive style and much-loved pleasant personality and modest character.
In his new show Inflatable, Hills manages to make fun of the Paralympics without causing an ounce of offence and this is one of his most significant skills. Audiences will leave an Adam Hills show sore from laughing, but never offended or compromised in any way, and this in itself is what sets him aside from many of his more controversial contemporaries.
His career has taken off in a flying leap in the last two years and Hills has found himself catapulted into the word of television. Following on from the success of his stand-up comedy career, Aussie TV producers have pounced on Hills and have him presenting a very popular TV show called Spics and Specs which has received rave reviews and yet another nomination for a Gold Logie Award this year in Australia, which is the highest accolade you can achieve in Australian entertainment.
Unfazed by all the attention, Hills still maintains that Ireland, and Kilkenny in particular, is the best comedy venue in the world.
“I love Kilkenny,” he enthused on the phone after landing in Kilkenny on Wednesday morning. “Everyone does. There is no pressure. We get to do 20 minutes of our shows with our favourite and the most respected comedians in the world. For a comedian this is the place to be. I am coming to Kilkenny for about six years now and I even have my TV contract with Spics and Specs set in a way that I am finished just in time for the Cat Laughs every year! I have just finished a tour of Australia and have flown to Ireland from Perth where I did my last show this week. It has been hugely successful. I have quite a profile at the moment — everything is going pretty well,” said the chilled out Aussie.
Hills is very excited about his joint shows with Jason Byrne this year. The pair have come together to do a show with a spotlight on Dutch comedian Hans Teeuwan.
“This guy is amazing!” says Hills. “ He is really worth seeing. Jason and I will be introducing him in a way I guess, and this is his first time in Kilkenny although he is a household name in Holland. He used to come and see me on stage in Holland but I could never see him as it was in Dutch! So now he is doing his shows in English and he is really funny.”
An Adam and Jason combination is not a new thing and the two hilarious comics have teamed up on several occasions before in Edinburgh, Melbourne, the UK, and Dublin.
“Jason is great — we have a good time. We have never rehearsed a show before. We just hook up and go on stage and neither one of us knows how it is going to turn out — we figure that this works best. There was one time when Jason arrived three minutes before we were due to go on stage. He literally arrived. We said hello and walked on!”
Highlights of this year’s festival for Hills include a female comedian that he has himself produced — Hannah Gadsby.
“Hannah is going to go down a treat in Kilkenny. She is a great comedian and I think that the Kilkenny audience will love her. Ross Noble is also returning this year which is great and Dave Gorman has a fantastic show. He is huge in the UK and has chased people all around the world with the same name!”
On top of comedy, Hills is adamant that he will be playing in goal as usual for the Irish team v the rest of the world. With a prosthetic leg he believes this is probably the best place for him.
“I have played middle of the pitch in the past but my leg is broken at the moment and I have no spare. It is due to be sent to me while I am here in Ireland over the next few days so hopefully nothing drastic happens before then,” he jokes.
The soccer match takes place in the Fair Green on Sunday afternoon at 2.30pm and it is free for all. So go along and see the skill of your favourite comedian in action on the pitch. You might then realise why they decided on comedy for a living!
