Craig Hill bounds onto the stage, dressed head to toe in black, like a man possessed. He is a ball of loud, flamboyant energy, and he turns all of this energy onto his crowd for an extended section of crowd work, during which he relentlessly berates and teases members of his audience. No one is safe from his scathing gaze, and he is never found lacking for a quip or aside about the job or residence of any given crowd member, and even has impressions ready to rattle off for a lucky few. His improvisation is impressive, but simply abusing members of the audience grows stale after a while.
He always refers back to his crowd work, but towards the middle of his set, Hill gets into some more diverse material; a story about seeing a disappointing Chaka Khan performance has a nice payoff and a song about Scotland to the tune of “My Favourite Things” provides a wealth of laughs. However, Hill’s reliance on audience interaction for much of his material can leave his show feeling somewhat gimmicky, and the lascivious persona he portrays can also feel like a stale stereotype, beaten into the ground by his constant referrals back to it.
However, Hill stick the landing at the end with a big musical number involving some of his trademark crowd work – it really accentuates the abundant energy and stage presence that Hill possesses. It’s a fitting end to an entertaining if somewhat samey hour of comedy.
Craig Hill: I’ve Been Sitting on This for A While!, 19:00, Just The Tonic until August 25.
