“I love accents,” says Scottish comedian Craig Hill.
“I’m a bit obsessed with the Australian one. It’s so positive-sounding!” Even with its penchant for F-words and C-bombs? You better believe it. “Even then, [you’re] sounding fucking aliiiive!” says Hill, Aussie accent and all.
Hill will be hitting Sydney Comedy Festival this week with his latest show, Playing With My Selfie. It’s a memorable name.
“There are thousands of shows on at festivals and I always think that your poster has to stand out, make people smile and give them the flavour of your sense of humour,” Hill explains. “I also think that the minute that it has a little double entendre, it can lighten someone’s day.
“So I always like to have a provocative and cheeky title and this one occurred to me because so many people are obsessed with selfies. I also thought it would be a good excuse to take selfies of the audience and then turn that into a dance routine.”
At this point, the imagination goes wild. Sure, Hill is known for injecting music into his shows, but how does anyone turn a selfie into a dance routine?
“It’s me,” the comedian declares. “I will find a way to turn anything into a dance routine. People are always saying to dance more and sing more, so it’s turned into a kind of cabaret. It isn’t strictly just stand-up.”
This is most definitely true of Hill’s shows. In addition to being known for his comedic song-and-dance numbers, Hill has never been one to shy away from making his audience members firm participants in his shows.
“I think that’s what my shows have become known for. It keeps me on my toes and keeps everything so alive. Some people come to my show during the Edinburgh Festival four times because they know it’s going to change.”
Spontaneity can be a fearful thing for a performer, but it’s something Hill enjoys and thrives on. “You either respond well to that pressure or you don’t, and I love it. I think it brings out the best in me, because sometimes I’m put on the spot and say something that I genuinely could not have prepared and couldn’t have been funnier anywhere but in that moment. My favourite thing is when people ask if the guy I got to dance was a plant. It never is, but I’m so flattered that they think it’s so good that it must have been rehearsed.”
This brings the conversation back to Hill’s brave combination of selfies and dance.
“So because it’s called Playing With My Selfie, I thought that you can’t dance to that unless you have a song with a photographic theme. But then I thought, ‘Why not do it to Duran Duran’s ‘Girls On Film?’’ This turned into me dancing with some woman’s husband and I thought it would be funnier for the audience to sing ‘Gays On Film’ because we were pretending to be lovers taking a selfie.”
Thankfully, audiences tend to respond positively when Hill draws them into his routine.
“That’s a fun part of the show, trying to work out who looks the most frightened of joining in,” he cackles mischievously. “I’m kind of joking there. Most people in the front know what my show is about and there’s a part of them that’s up for it.”
Craig Hill’sPlaying With My Selfieruns Friday April 22 and Saturday April 23 at The Comedy Store, as part of Sydney Comedy Festival 2016.
