Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Craig Hill Q&A

Post Thumbnail

Ahead of his trip up north, bekilted comedian Craig Hill discusses with Andrew Youngson where he finds
comedy inspiration

 

YOU WERE COMPERING FOR THE BIG INVERNESS HOGMANAY BASH A FEW WEEKS BACK. HOW WAS IT?
I was so pleased to do it. It was my fourth time, and I think this was the busiest one they had had. What’s exciting for me each time is finding out about Scottish traditional music, and how good it is. I think a lot of tourists going to the Edinburgh Hogmanay would love the Inverness one, because it’s such a celebration of Scottish music.

WHAT CAN PEOPLE EXPECT AT YOUR CURRENT SHOW?
Well, a lot of people expect me to do singing and dancing, so there’s some of that. For example, someone asked me to do a version of Adele’s Someone Like You – I’ve done a wee parody of that.
A lot of the show is just what happens on stage on the night, spontaneously with the audience. Most of it is about anecdotes from your travels, because most people do want to know what you’ve been up to since they last saw you. And as a comedian, you just have those eyes on life – you’re a comedian because you look at life in that way.

SO YOU FIND INSPIRATION EVERYWHERE FOR YOUR MATERIAL?
Yeah, I record notes on my iPhone throughout the year, and then write it all down. For example, the other day, I was in a cafe with a friend and I told her a story. She laughed, and it was only then that I realised it was funny. But then I asked: “How did I tell you that story again?” And that’s the most frustrating thing – when you say something naturally without thinking and then try to go back and word it exactly the same to capture the moment.
So, I think, as a comedian, it’s really important to make sure you’re still living a normal life, and not just always doing comedy – to still be around all the things that make you laugh.

DO YOU NOTICE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AUDIENCES IN DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHICAL PLACES?
I don’t notice that much, really. I think that language is probably the main thing. Patter and accents – I’m quite fascinated by that. In Inverness, for example, there are words they say that I’ve never heard before. I love playing with that if I can, because people love it when you can localise your act. But I love language differences. So in Stornoway, I’m probably going to have a field day.

YOU MUST GET ASKED THIS ALL THE TIME, BUT HOW MANY KILTS DO YOU ACTUALLY OWN?
Actually not that many people ask me that. You would be surprised; I’ve just got 12 of them.

THAT’S ALL? I THOUGHT YOU WOULD HAVE MORE
I know. I like to try to get a new one every year. Most of them are from 21st Century Kilt in Edinburgh, but one is from when a woman in Greenock heckled me. She said: “I could get you a kilt for 50 quid. There’s a shop closing doon the morra. You should go get it; it’s red PVC; it would suit you.” So I did. (Laughs)

Craig Hill will be at the Lemon Tree, Aberdeen,on Friday, January 30 (www.aberdeenperforming arts.com), Eden Court, Inverness, on Saturday, February 14 (www.eden-court.co.uk), and An Lanntair, Stornoway, on Friday, February 20 (www.lanntair.com).