Adam Hills Articles/Reviews

[Spoofy]

Comedian Adam Hills may not be your typical Aussie bloke but he's singing the country's praises the only what he knows how.

The man who once wrote in his high school yearbook his greatest goal in life was to have someone ask him for an autograph is heading for popstar status - with a twist.

In a funny take on your nation's anthem. Hills has recorded [i:post_uid1]Advance Australia Fair [/i:post_uid1] to the tune of possibly Australia's second national anthem, Jimmy Barnes' [i:post_uid1]Working Class Man [/i:post_uid1].

With a little help from his comic friends, including Paul McDermott, Libby Gore, Tripod, Steddy Eddy and Mark Trevorrow (aka Bob Downe), the single may just be the tonic to teaching every Australian the words to the anthem.

"Its been part of my stage act for ages, it actually came to me in a supermarket in Kensington while I was doing the shopping," Hills says.

"I initially sang it to the Gilligan's Island theme, and then the Beverley Hillbillies. Comedy and music has always been a part of my shows so it's inevitable they would come together. But I don't think anything will top this single."

On the back of his album [i:post_uid1] Go You Big Red Fire Engine[/i:post_uid1], Hills was finally granted permission to record the track with the help of his former radio colleague and now record label chief David Day.

In keeping with his obsession with all things "fiery", every cent from the single's proceeds will be donated to Australasian Fire Authority Council - ironically started by Barnes.

"Your kidding me, I didn't know that," He says as Day points out the irony.

One of Australia's greatest comics exports, Hills cut his teeth in the industry on the stand-up comedy circuit before his "big break", landing a job as a breakfast announcer on Adelaide radio in 1992.

"probably the most fun I had was when I filled in for the 10pm-to-1am shift for six weeks and I would make up my own competitions," he laughs.

"I felt like Christian Slater on [i:post_uid1] Pump up the Volume [/i:post_uid1] I used to run 'songs to bonk to' and people would call up and request these songs. I would later call back to see if they worked."

Hills left Adelaide in 1997 for the international comedy circuit and now bases himself "somewhere between Dublin, London and Australia".

"sometimes you would get these people coming up to you in these seedy pubs on comedy nights with strange looks saying 'did you used to be on SA-FM?' Then it was like 'so this is what you are doing now'," he says with a sarcastic tone.

Surprisingly, Hills claims he was never the class clown. "I was quite shy but when it was my turn I was happy to get the laughs," he says. "If I was at a party and did what I do on stage, I wouldn't have any friends. Doing stand up is the only time I don't have to worry about anybody else."

Hills, 31, isn't expecting overnight success with the single "although I would love to knock off Shakira" but he hopes Australia gets behind it.

[i:post_uid1] Working class Anthem [/i:post_uid1] will be released on May 31.

Published Adelaide Advertiser 12 May 2002



Edited By Spoofy on May 12 2002 at 13:09

[odtriple]

I was just surfing the net and found this article - the stories will be familiar for anyone who saw his MICF show this year.

Adam Hills - The Hillsy Corporation: exposed!

What I am about to tell you is unsubstantiated, unconfirmed and unreliable. And yet these stories were all told to me in good faith, by people who had no reason whatsoever to spin me a lie.

Three unrelated people, in three unrelated conversations, have told me tales of a well-known theme park and their attitude towards disabled people and those with life-threatening illnesses. And here they are.

Story no.1
Fiona worked for a media outlet associated with the aforementioned theme park. Let's call it (for no particular reason) Hillsy Online. She thought it would be a great idea for the main character of Hillsy Online - let's call him Andy Aardvark - to visit a camp for children with life-threatening illnesses.

Fiona took her proposal to her boss, explaining that it would not only cheer up the children, but also provide great publicity for Hillsy Online, especially when photographs of the visit were published in a national newspaper. Fiona's boss initially agreed, but after consulting with the head of publicity for Hillsy Online, he quickly changed his mind.

"Unfortunately," he told Fiona, "Andy Aardvark isn't supposed to be photographed with terminally ill children."

When asked why this was the case, the boss replied, "Because we like to present the image that Andy can make children's dreams come true. If Andy is seen with terminally ill children, it will prove that he can't actually make this happen."

Story no.2
Errol worked for a television station in Haiti. He had arranged for a group of disabled children and those with life-threatening illnesses to go on a trip to Hillsyville, the famous theme park, and wanted to film the whole experience to show on TV when they got back to Haiti.

He spoke to the people in charge of Hillsyville's publicity, who informed him that they don't allow outside filming in the park. Off the record, however, they told him that the real reason he couldn't film the kids is that official policy does not allow the filming of disabled children, or those with a life-threatening illness, inside the Hillsyville park.

For a similar reason to that given to Fiona, it was explained to Errol that Hillsyville was supposed to be the perfect place, where everyone is always healthy and happy, and that images of disabled people or those with a life-threatening illness in the park would tarnish that image.

All this came from a park that prides itself on being wheelchair accessible, employing those with disabilities, and being the chosen venue for those wanting one last wish in life.

Story no.3
Chauncey once worked as a character inside one of the Hillsyville parks. He and the other characters were all told (off the record, of course) that they were not supposed to approach a disabled person or a person with a life-threatening illness if they requested a photograph, even if the picture was for personal use.

Furthermore, Chauncey was informed that if a group of disabled people or those with a life-threatening illness came towards him while in character, he would be ushered away by security guards before the people even came close. This conjures a very amusing image of a dozen wheelchair-using visitors chasing a bedraggled Aardvark around a theme park, like a Salvador Dali-directed episode of The Benny Hill Show.

I have told my stories to more than one person, and more than one of those people has responded with the phrase, "Yes, I've heard that goes on there". Or, "Well, I once worked for The Hillsy Corporation, and you should hear my story".

So my question is this: does anyone else have a similar story? More to the point, does anyone have physical proof of this practise? If someone, somewhere has something in writing, a recorded conversation, or even material evidence of this practise within The Hillsy Corporation, then it's high time we outed them as being the callous, insensitive and anti-disability/life-threatening illness corporate dementors that they seem to be.

Please email any responses you may have direct to the Ouch team, and I will endeavour to keep you updated. Alternatively, visit my one-man show during the Edinburgh Fringe, cos it may just make its way into the act.

Oh, and in case there are any lawyers from The Hillsy Corporation reading this article, I should point out that the stories told to me were unsubstantiated, unconfirmed and - if proven true - unforgivable.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

See Adam in Edinburgh
Adam Hills brings his show Go You Big Red Fire Engine 2: Judgement Day to the Aseembly Rooms from Friday 6 August to Monday 30 August, as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. For more details and to book tickets online, visit the Assembly Rooms site.

The article is from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/columnists...04_index.shtml and there are other articles by Adam Hills on the site which make for good reading.

[unfrufru]

RIGHT ON SISTER! or brother

just when u think u can't love him any more for being a beautiful human being, he does this.

[privateschoolprat]

If those stories are true (and they probably are), then that is one of the most atrocious things i've ever heard. i can imagine the look on the faces of the poor sick kids when a dressed up character in a theme park is ushered away from them by security guards

[Mythor]

Given that the stories are almost certainly about Disneyland (or Walt Disney World) I'd say that they're almost certainly not true!
There are a lot of rumours and mudslinging going on around Disney, like a lot of big companies. For example, noone has ever officially died at Disneyland because Disney don't allow anyone to be declared dead until they leave the grounds.
A similar rumour to the disabled thing is the one about how Disney is just discriminating against certain "kinds" of disability. (they aren't)

Possible other, more likely explanations for each story.
Story 1: "Hillsy Online" know there's no percentage in sending a character to a hospital. It's unlikely to increase sales by enough to cover the expenses of sending the character to a hospital.
Story 2: They don't allow outside filming in the park!
Story 3: They don't want disabled people to get too close to the big people in the big, movement and sight restricted, giant novelty costume because there's a good chance the disabled person could get hurt. And then they'd sue.

All the little "Disney is bad, m'kay?" bits get tacked on by people after the tale is first told because people like to demonise Disney, though god only knows why. If it were actually true that Disneyland, an American theme park, was discriminating against disabled people deliberately and maliciously in the case of those rumours, there'd be lawsuits out the wazoo.
Instead there's just a petition to have the "special pass" reinstated for legitimate customers ASAP. No talk of a lawsuit over it, because Disney isn't hiding the fact that the pass is being rejigged.

People like a juicy rumour and now that Hills has perpetuated some of those by implying they're "facts I can't quite confirm" there'll be more people who'll talk about them as if true, and because Disneyland isn't specifically mentioned, it'll be morphed into versions suiting localised amusement parks.

Don't believe everything you read kiddies.

[odtriple]

Yeah, but he did make it very convincing at his show.


(and yes, "sister" was correct unfrufru! )

[dermo]

Well if it is supposed to be Disney then that's rubbish. I've been to Disney countless times when i was a kid and the characters always came up to me and I was in wheelchair. (i say kid, i was out of my wheelchair by the time i was 16). I was never ushered away by security and none of my friends were either. Was always treated very well in the Magic kingdom.

[Beckslee]

Alternatively, visit my one-man show during the Edinburgh Fringe, cos it may just make its way into the act.

ummmm...

Ok

consider it done

[unfrufru]

Laughing at death

June 11, 2005





Photo: Marco del Grande



As a teenager, Adam Hills vowed that comedy was the one thing he'd never give up. He stuck with his pledge - and now, writes Brigid Delaney, even dying on stage is almost painless.

Young Adam would sit in the back seat of the beige Ford Fairmont with his brother, his parents in the front, on the long drives down the South Coast to visit his grandparents. Tapes of Bill Cosby and Billy Connolly would be played and the four-hour journey went quickly.

At his grandparents' house, the extended family would sit around the television at night and watch M*A*S*H and Benny Hill. The next day they would amuse themselves by mimicking their favourite characters.

From an early age, Adam Hills learnt comedy could be a powerful connector. Years later, as a teenager, he started going out and discovered "it was really important to be the funny guy at the party". Humour was still acting as a lightening rod to connection and a handy social lubricant. But could it be something more?

Hills went on to study communications at Macquarie University, intending to be a journalist. But comedy still tugged on his shirt sleeves. For a while he resisted - partly because his parents disapproved ("I think they were scared that I would be celebrating my 40th birthday blowing out a candle in a dustbin saying, 'But I'm so funny!"') and, anyway, life's routine was firmly in place. The visceral, baying-for-blood atmosphere of stand-up comedy would no doubt rend the fabric of his comfortable existence in the Sutherland Shire - uni in the day, tennis coaching after uni, tennis matches on weekends.

But he went with the instinct, sneaking over the Georges River to the Comedy Store at Wynyard. He still remembers that first gig, aged 19, although he cringes when he talks about it now. He brought a group of mates along. They formed a protective laughing circle around him, guffawing at his routine about "chicks and a few old jokes". He didn't tell his parents where he was. When he got off stage, he was hooked.
How did he tell them he wanted to be a comedian? "I said, 'This is the one thing I'm going to stick at. This is the one thing I'm never going to stop doing.' It was just like a focus, a laser beam - this is what I want to do."

Now 34, Hills has been a professional stand-up comic since 1990. He hosts the ABC's Spicks and Specks, but the tight format of the show reveals only a speck of his talent; he can be seen in full flight when he performs stand-up shows. A lot of his audience and success come from Britain and Europe, where he was based from 1998 until he moved to Melbourne in January this year.

When we met one night at a pub in Paddington, he could pass for Wil Anderson's slightly older brother. He has a publicist in tow, a T-shirt with a self-deprecating message ("I'm a freak - touch me") and is quick with the smile and the one liners. The charm must come in handy at his regular gig at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival hosting the 1am slot known as the abattoir, where "comics go to get slaughtered".

"I've seen glass thrown, people booed and chased off the stage. One time glass was thrown across the stage and shattered alongside of us. I was sitting next to an Australian comic when that happened and she went on stage and pulled a piece of glass out of her leg," he says.

As with any comedian who has performed long enough, Hills is familiar with the intense states of stand-up: the adrenalin and the rush when it's going well; the abattoir moments when things go badly.

"Your deaths get better," he says. "You learn not to worry when you feel a death coming on and, by not worrying about it, you get out of it. I remember one recently where I made a joke and got nothing. Another gag - nothing. And then another - and in my head I thought, 'I'm going to die.' Sometimes you panic ... you start swearing a bit more because you're nervous and then you think, 'If I say "f---" a bit more they'll laugh a bit more,' and then they don't and then you are dead."

And in stand-up death, Hills says, your body betrays you. Your hands shake, your heart pounds, your legs get wobbly and you sweat.

His parents' reservations about comedy when he was younger weren't just about the uncertain income or their son dying on stage, but seem to have more to do with taste ("Dad used to not like the swearing in Billy Connolly") and the fact that while comedy can act as a connector, it can also act as corrupter.

Many comedians find their gems in humour's underbelly, teasing out weakness in others - but not Hills. "I saw a guy called Don Rickles when I was 19. It was hilarious but it was all put-down. Everyone was laughing but by the end I felt a bit dirty; I'd just laughed at an hour of negativity."

Instead, he wants his audience to "walk out feeling an inch higher than when they walked in. There's a way of making a positive joke and that's something I really wanted to explore: if you could do positive, uplifting comedy. I learnt that what I do best on stage and what works is when I'm upbeat. At the same time I got into comedy, I took a course in reiki, which is positive energy, relaxation. The idea behind reiki is the idea behind comedy: giving positive energy to another person."

So where does his spirituality lie?

His mum was a Sunday school teacher and dad an agnostic. "Mum always had a belief that everything happens for a reason. My dad wasn't a religious person at all as far as going to church, but I remember him saying to me, 'I don't like going to church because they tell me I'm a sinner and I don't think I'm a sinner."'

As for Hills, like a lot of Australian kids, some primal sense of spirituality was developed in the empty hours after school, playing in the bush. "I had a happy upbringing, a block of land out the back, native garden in the front, swimming pool in the backyard, and behind the back fence was bushland that went down into a valley, so we'd constantly go on bushwalks, my brother and I or mates that lived next door," he says. "We'd go down and build cubby houses and, it's bizarre, I went for a walk recently not all the way down and stood at the back and walked a little way down and I can see how you can have a connection to the land."

Other things also shaped his identity. Hills was born without a right foot and has worn a prosthetic limb all his life.

"Everything happens for a reason, said my Mum, and I remember her saying that when I was seven years old, and it's such a great thing for a parent to say to a kid that's missing a foot: 'God decided that you wouldn't have a foot but he made you a lot smarter than some of the other kids - and that's the way he made up for it.' I didn't get big headed about it," he says.

When he is facing difficult decisions, she is fond of telling him he will always land on his feet. And he has. When he is on stage and everyone's laughing, he reckons something great happens. "A connection happens and people lose their self-consciousness."

What is he self-conscious about? "Everything. The way I look. I generally forget to be self-conscious; I get caught up in a conversation or another person and forget, and I love that - when you are not thinking about yourself. It's so hard to have a conversation with someone where you are thinking, 'Is my hair in the right place? Or has my shirt been caught up?' I get down on myself, and often when you get down on yourself you want someone to reaffirm you. You say, "Argh, I really screwed that up' and you want to say, 'Tell me I didn't, please tell me I didn't.' But that's manipulating someone to tell you you did a good thing.

"I sometimes think I'm a bit lucky in having an artificial foot in that it doesn't matter how much time I spend in the gym or on my hair or on my clothes, I've still got one foot. It's a real leveller. At the end of the day, I've still got to take my leg off before I get into bed."

Hills is working on a new show all about character - or, more precisely, how there's not enough of it. "My hope is that in 40 years' time people will be going into plastic surgeons saying, 'Can you make it look like I've laughed a bit? Can you put a few lines in?' There should be a few more characters in the world." Who has he met who really has character? "Each of my grandparents had character. They had a certain twinkle in their eyes and integrity to who they were that I really like."

[EnidoftheSunrise]

That's a nice article, he's such a sweetie.

[unfrufru]

Life's great for HillsSydney
June 23, 2005





Adam Hills
Photo: Marco del Grande



Funnyman Adam Hills, best known as host of ABC gameshow Spicks and Specks, would love a spot on the next series of Dancing With the Stars.

Following his spectacular comic relief at this year's Logies, Hills was approached by the Seven network in the leadup to the next season of its popular program.

But there's just one problem - the 34-year-old has an artificial foot.

"I was born without a right foot and no-one really knows why," the Sydney comedian explained.

He said he would have loved to do Dancing With the Stars and unfastened his false foot to let if fly off as a gag.

"If we do a can-can, it would be great to loosen it and just have it flying off," he said.

Despite being born missing a foot, Hills said his leg never bothered him. "There's nothing that I can't do," Hills said.

"I just forget about it half the time."

But even if the joker had both feet, he wouldn't have time to do the dancing show.

Spicks and Specks, which puts celebrities to the test on their music knowledge, has been a winner on the ABC and looks set for a second series.

"There was talk on the (Logies) night of 'oh you'll be approached by network execs and all that stuff," said Hills, who has performed in comedy festivals around the world.
"(But) I'm contracted to the ABC, to Spicks and Specks for a second series if they go ahead with one, which I think is pretty likely.

"And I'm loving it."

So far this year Spicks and Specks has featured Guy Sebastian, Jimmy Barnes, Frankie J Holden and James Morrison playing the trumpet and trombone at the same time.

Hills said working for the ABC allowed the show more freedom to be creative.

"If we were doing Spicks and Specks on a commercial network we'd be told what guests we have to have on," he said.

"And we'd have people that are tied in with the network that might be promoting their own thing, whereas now we can have opera stars and classic musicians and conductors."

The television personality, who has made several appearances on Rove Live, The Fat and The Glass House, said he was pleased with the direction Spicks and Specks was heading.

"A lot of people are talking about it which is kind of nice," Hills said.

He admitted that the Spicks team "didn't know what we were doing" when they first started out.

"It was a bit of game show and it was of bit of trivia and almost chat show as well," Hills said.

"We actually found that the best way to do it was just play the game and play to win."

He said it was hard to get musicians to talk once taken out of their comfort zone, when comedians were used to talking in front of large crowds.

Once filming for Spicks and Specks wraps in July, Hills will travel to Canada for the Montreal Comedy Festival and also to America to "pitch a few ideas" to television executives.

Last year he went to NBC with the idea for a sitcom which came close to getting to pilot stage.

Hills is also hoping to do a three-month stint on London's West End and clearly has no lack of offers.

"Within 24 hours I had 13 gigs lined up with more to come," Hills said.

"Life's great."

Spicks and Specks airs on the ABC at 8.30pm (AEST) Wednesdays.

- AAP

[unfrufru]

Adam Hills is one of Australia's most talented and widely respected comedians. His unique style of thoughtful, uplifting comedy and rampant spontaneity have won him rave reviews and a legion of fans worldwide.
Adam's solo shows have seen sell-out houses at the Adelaide Fringe, Melbourne Comedy Festival and the Kilkenny Comedy Festival. He has appeared at the Just for Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival, toured the UK and Ireland, and played a solo season in London's West End.

However it is at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival that Adam has truly made his mark. Totally sold-out for the past five years, three times nominated for the prestigious Perrier Award, and winner of the inaugural Nokia Orange Best of the Fest Award in 2002 - Adam has become one of the hottest attractions at the Fringe, and throughout the UK.

British Television credits include Never Mind The Buzzcocks, The BBC Stand Up Show and The World Comedy Tour which also screened in Australia, USA and Canada. Back home Adam has been seen on Rove Live, The Glasshouse and Good News Week and was a team captain on Campaign for thecomedychannel.
Radiowise, Adam is the current host of Four at the Store for Radio 4, and co-wrote and co-performed We Say Tomay-to, a six-part topical comedy series for Radio 2. He has also appeared on Radio 4's Loose Ends, and is a regular guest on BBC Scotland's Fred MacAulay Show. In Australia, Adam has also hosted his own breakfast show on SAFM Adelaide, and has been heard around the country on Triple J and the Austereo Network.

Adam Hills is currently in demand as one of the world's best headline acts in the top clubs of Britain, Australia and Europe. His debut live CD Go You Big Red Fire Engine is available in Australia, and his solo shows continue to tour Australia, Ireland, Europe and the UK.

[unfrufru]

http://entertainment.news.com.au/sto...-10229,00.html

It's time for a bit of comic relief for Adam Hills, host of ABC TV's runaway hit, Spicks And Specks.

You were working in London when ABC executives offered you the Spicks and Specks compere role. Were you caught off guard?
Kind of. I had been offered TV shows in Australia before, but none of them really interested me. So when I had a conference call in the middle of the night, and when they told me about the idea for Spicks and Specks, I started to get excited. Then they sent me some of the games, and I was hooked. Spicks and Specks is like a Temptation/Sale of the Century for pop quiz lovers. Do you see yourself as a future variety show host?
The words "variety show host" make me shudder. I'd like to continue combining TV and comedy, but I'll always be a comedian first, and a TV person second.

What kind of music are you into?
All kinds. I have a soft spot for jazz, and can think of nothing better than spending an evening in a smoky jazz club somewhere in the world. Having said that, I love musicals, I love 60s music, and I love 80s music - especially Adam and The Ants. Plus I haven't stopped playing the latest Ben Lee album, as well as Spiderbait and Sarah Blasko.


You've had a taste of spotlight on television and on the comedy circuit. Would you like a bigger stage?
It's not the size of the stage, it's what you do with it that counts. Seriously. I couldn't care less if I was on a milk crate in front of thirty people.

You seem to be busy yet having fun at the same time. Is it all spic and span working or do you have your moments?
I work five days a week on Spicks and Specks, putting the shows together then filming them. We finish filming on July 13, then I'll be heading off around the world to do live comedy again. I'm doing the Montreal Comedy Festival first, then a month in LA, then off to the UK until December.

What's more stressful: Stand-up comedian or TV host?
They are different types of stress. Stand up means that there is no one else to help you out if things go wrong - so I tend to get very wound up and excited before a stand-up gig. However, TV means that if you make a mistake a lot of people will see it. Either way, I get nervous for each one and tend to wee a lot.

Do you suffer from stage fright? If not, what do you suffer from?
Not so much stage fright as a fear of making a fool of myself. I think this is the same for everyone though. If I'm not nervous before a show, then I start to worry. It means I'm not worried about doing a good job. It's a ridiculous thing this job. I love it when I'm on stage, but hate the hour that leads up to it.

Will we be seeing you swap stand-up for acting or jump on the soapie bandwagon led by Kylie Minogue and launch a singing career?
I acted in a play at the Melbourne Comedy Festival this year and loved it, and I also love to sing, but in the words of Dirty Harry "a good man knows his limitations." Having said that, I'll lay money that this time next year I'll be releasing some dodgy single. Probably a cover of Stand and Deliver by Adam and the Ants.

Who do you draw your inspiration from?
I draw my inspiration from people who are doing their best in their chosen field. Lately I have been inspired by Brian Wilson from The Beach Boys. Everything ever written by Tom Robbins inspires me, as well as the latest albums from Ben Lee, The Polyphonic Spree and The Flaming Lips. Oh, and the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu.

Where to from here?
In the short term I have plans for a new stand-up show for 2006, an Australian tour and then taking in Festivals in Kilkenny, Adelaide, Melbourne and Edinburgh. Hopefully there'll also be a second series of Spicks and Specks. All of this could change though, depending on what else comes up in the meantime. I'm happy to just go with the flow and see where it takes me. Spicks and Specks, Wednesday, 8.30pm, ABC

[unfrufru]

http://entertainment.news.com.au/sto...-10229,00.html

ADAM Hills isn't your average quiz show host. He doesn't bother with enthusiastic spruiking of prizes or prolong the suspense as anxious competitors mull over tricky questions.

The Spicks And Specks frontman prefers to approach each instalment of the music trivia program though he's hosting a dinner party.

"The viewer has just turned up at the door, they don't know anybody and they don't know what's being talked about," Hills says. "If it was a dinner party you'd explain what you were chatting about to confused guest. So we basically treat the show like that to our viewers."

But, Hills admits, that approach does have implications for real life.

"There have been at least three occasions in the last month where have been in a conversation with someone and they've mentioned a name and I turn to the other person and proceeded to give an explanation.

"And they've looked at me and gone, You're not on television now, you don't have to explain everything'."

As regular viewers of the show will know, the questions posed on Spicks And Specks range from the difficult to the downright obscure.


Hills is often asked whether guests and regular panellists on the show are warned in advance about what subjects will be covered.

For the record, the answer is no.

"They just can't believe that people could possibly know that stuff," he says.

"We're trying to find a mix whereby you're playing from home there are good number of questions you can answer but there will be a few where you will have no idea what the answer But then the music buffs playing at home feel clever because they know it."

Hills isn't sure if the high degree diffi culty makes Spicks And Specks the smartest game show on TV, but he does suspect it's the nerdiest. "One of the great compliments we get is when someone who's a real music buff tells us they love the show because that means that we're just making it tough enough for them to get into the show.

"I'd like to think we don't pander the viewers though," he continues, before pausing to reflect over what he's just said. "Hang on ... I think I've just worked out why I'm the host. Because I'm the medium between the really smart people - I'm the dumb one. I just worked that out," he laughs.

Self-deprecating jokes aside, the stand-up comedian sees his role as being a master of ceremonies.

"In many ways it is like emceeing a comedy show in that I've got to keep the whole thing moving along and if it's fl agging I have to throw in a couple of jokes," he says. And being exposed to such learned music buffs every week has also encouraged Hills to expand his own record collection.

"I used to have a pretty daggy music knowledge to be honest.

I could tell you almost every fact there is about Adam Ant, which doesn't score you a lot of credibility at parties. But since being on the show I now have a better awareness.

"I love watching people when they're caught up in their passion.

I've had a ball and met a whole different bunch of people I would never normally come in contact with." * Spicks And Specks, Wednesday, ABC, 8.30pm

[unfrufru]

http://www.theage.com.au/news/tv--ra...191720540.html

The interview
By CHRIS BECK
October 6, 2005
Page 1 of 2

Adam Hills appears on the ABC in Spicks and Specks.



Hosting the music trivia show Spicks and Specks can be detrimental to his humour but stand-up comedian Adam Hills prefers the neutral corner. He has to determine the pace, give edit points, and keep the guests in line. The panellists can relax and try to be funny. But he's happy.

"There's another thing that happens on a panel," he says, "In that you have to fight to get room. If there is a conversation going on and you jump in and say, oh, I've got something to say, because you are the comedian (and not the musician), that better be funny. I'm not one to back myself in a situation like that. So hosting works better than being on the panel."

Hills admits that can't cut the mustard in the face of competition. He has been nominated for a Perrier Comedy Award in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe three times but on the nights he was nominated, when all 10 judges attended, he had the worst show of his run.

"I can't be funny when I'm being judged," he says, "It's the thing of saying to someone in the audience - 'what do you do for a living?' And normally you've got the voice saying 'make it funny, make it funny'. But then that voice is going 'make it funny because 10 people are judging you, oh man don't screw it up in front of them, I can't think of anything funny, oh this is awful'."

There seems to be a lot of things going against Hills, who studied journalism, being a funny man. He says he is shy, full of self-doubt (although that's a comic cliche) and hates to be the centre of attention. At his recent birthday party he sat in the corner and hoped people were having fun.

I spoke to an ABC staffer about Hills and her line was, Adam is really a nice guy, everyone wishes him well because he is such a nice guy, and you'll find that he is a really nice guy. Oh, and he has an artificial foot.

It would be a bit of a disappointment if all you do is whack on an artificial foot and you don't get anything out of it. Do you get anything out of it?

I like to think that it gives me a sense of humility in that I can't get carried away with myself because at the end of the day I have to take my leg off to get into bed.

How late do you wait to tell women you are interested in that you haven't got a foot?

It's not so much dating but one-night stands. (As we manoeuvre to the bed) "I probably should have told you that when I take my shoe off I'm going to take a bit more off as well."

I think nice is great but do you want to be known chiefly as a nice guy? It doesn't sound interesting to be nice.


Really early on, when I started doing comedy when I was 19 at the Comedy Store, it just didn't suit me to go out there and be aggressive.

I bet you said f--- a lot. Comedians all do.

I learnt not to. I got a review a few years ago that said even his swearing seems clean cut. I realised in those early days the only thing I could do was be myself. So I developed a routine about what it was like to live at home with my parents and my grandmother. Certainly, when I started out there were some sex jokes and dirty stuff. (I stopped doing that) partly because my dad saw a videotape of one of my open-mike sets and just went "that's disgusting" and stormed out of the room.

You were upset for your dad?

Yeah, I wanted to do the sort of stuff my dad would enjoy. We used to listen to Bill Cosby and we watched M*A*S*H together and Benny Hill. So, you know, my dad and I had a love of comedy. But it was the best thing to happen because I thought, you know what, he's right. I should be doing stuff that's right for me. Someone recently compared it to child development - as a child you play with your own poo and then your own genitals and gradually you grow up. I think a lot of comics start by doing jokes about their own poo.

Hills lived and worked successfully in Britain for about four years. He even appeared twice on the panel of Never Mind the Buzzcocks, which was the inspiration for the nicer titled Spicks and Specks. He has plenty of material about the bleakness of London and its people.

"They love thinking they are still in the Blitz," he says. "That's why they love it when things go wrong in England, because it reminds them of the Blitz and that's when they can all come together. I've seen more Londoners smiling since the bombings than the two years leading up to it. It's a chance for them to prove their resilience."

Hills is an optimist who has used the phrase "Go You Big Red Fire Engine", not only as a comedic tool but also as a mantra when he is nervous before a gig.

"It's about being funny for the sake of being funny."

You are into positive thinking - were you into that when you were in London?

Yeah, it was an interesting time for English comedy because New Labour had just got in. But there were a lot of anti-Tory comics so there were people on stage trying to be anti-government, anti-Blair. People like Ben Elton were saying: "Well what do I talk about?" It occurred to me that it seemed incongruous to be so negatively comedic when things were supposedly about to turn around. I had learnt (the healing technique) Reiki, and this idea of giving positive energy. I decided to test myself to see if I could do positive stand-up, where there are no victims and people feel uplifted when they left.

The first year in Edinburgh I got a review saying this bit didn't work and this bit, but it described it as celebratory comedy. In my head I went: "Yeah, yeah, that is what I'm doing. Of course, I had a few failures."

Spicks and Specks is on Wednesdays at 8.30pm on the ABC.