Out of the three shows I’ve seen involving Microsoft PowerPoint, Ted Hill is by far the most skilled user. He has crafted a show that is interactive, unique, funny and the right amount of weird. From facts about water voles to making an audience member shoot an American Mink (which leads to the demolition of a children’s hospital), this show has a lot of variety. The former Britain’s Got Talent finalist is not just incredibly creative with his presentations, he also has a soundboard that consists of dozens of phrases so that instead of having to engage in crowd work himself, he can simply press a few buttons. Despite having this at his disposal, he is fantastic with the audience, who are provided with sheets of paper that can be held up one way if the material is too weird, or the other way if it’s not weird enough.
The show opens with a brilliant remix of one of Hill’s TV interviews about his style of comedy, the presenter describes the concept as not particularly funny, ironically providing a hilarious start to the show. Ted enters the stage and wastes no time initially, jumping straight into his presentation and outlining what’s happening in today’s show, along with some brilliant, pre-recorded overlays. To summarise just how chaotic this show is, there is even a moment where he takes up ventriloquism. A highlight is a recurring bit about the online dictionary only providing the third most common definition of a word if you aren’t a subscriber, which leaves the audience in stitches every time it’s brought back into the show.
There are moments where he will go on a tangent about something or other, but rather than taking away from the show, it still provides laughs because he has an audio or video clip to play for almost every inevitable slip-up in his performance.
Ted Hill: PowerpoinDexter, 18:00, Studio Five at Assembly George Square Studios, Until Aug 30
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/ted-hill-powerpoindexter
