Adam Hills

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For the British politician, see Adam Hills (politician).
Adam Hills
Born (1970-07-10) 10 July 1970 (age 42)
Sydney, New South Wales
Medium Television, radio, stage
Nationality Australian
Years active 1989–present
Genres Stand-up
Influences Chris Addison, Greg Fleet, Rich Hall, Daniel Kitson, Ross Noble, David O'Doherty[1]
Influenced Sammy J[2]
Spouse Ali McGregor
Notable works and roles Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight (2011–present)
Spicks and Specks (2005–2011)
Website adamhills.com

Adam Hills (born 10 July 1970) is an Australian comedian and television presenter.[3] He has appeared on Australian and British television and is best known in Australia for his role hosting the Australian ABC music trivia show Spicks and Specks and in Britain for hosting The Last Leg. He has been nominated for a Perrier Comedy Award and Gold Logie Award.

He began performing as a stand-up comedian in 1989 at the age of 19, and since 1997 has produced ten solo shows which have toured internationally. He has performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Montreal Just for Laughs festival, earning three consecutive Perrier Award nominations for his Edinburgh shows in 2001, 2002 and 2003.

In 2002, he scored a minor hit with his single "Working Class Anthem", in which he sang the lyrics of the Australian National Anthem to the tune of "Working Class Man", a famous song by Australian rocker Jimmy Barnes.

Contents

Personal life [edit]

Originally from the Sydney suburb of Loftus, Hills developed an interest in comedy after discovering an inflight comedy channel on a plane at the age of eight. Hills was born without a right foot and wears a prosthesis, which has become a frequent source of comedy in his act.[4] He studied for a Bachelor of Arts (Communications) at Macquarie University, graduating in 1991.

In December 2009, Hills married opera soprano Ali McGregor.[5]

Their first child, a daughter named Beatrice Pearl, was born on 8 May 2010.

Career [edit]

Stand-up career [edit]

Hills entered the comedy scene in 1989 when he made his first appearance at the Sydney Comedy Store at the age of 19. He spent several years from 1991 splitting his time between stand-up gigs and breakfast radio, but by the mid-1990s Hills says the hours had become exhausting and he decided to focus on live comedy. In 1997 he premiered "Stand Up and Deliver", the first of 10 solo shows, all of which have toured internationally. He has travelled widely, performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Montreal Just For Laughs festival.[6] He has been nominated for three consecutive Perrier Comedy Awards for his 2001, 2002 and 2003 solo shows at the Edinburgh Fringe.[7]

The title of his 2001 show, "Go You Big Red Fire Engine", was coined during a 1999 performance in Melbourne. Hills asked an audience member to yell his name to the audience and for the audience to yell it back, but instead the man yelled "Go you big red fire engine!"[8] The phrase quickly became an audience chant, and Hills promised he would make it the name of his next show because, he says, "it was such an uplifting and genuinely silly moment."[9] "Go You Big Red Fire Engine" later became the name of a second stand-up show and a comedy album; it also appeared in a Detroit newspaper, on a Swedish website and was yelled by Senator Natasha Stott Despoja in the Australian Parliament.[8]

His artificial right foot is commonly used as a source of humour in his shows and the comedian has been known to remove it and pass it around. However, Hills had been performing live comedy for over a decade before he made reference to his prosthesis on stage, and it was only after "Go You Big Red Fire Engine" was nominated for a Perrier Award in 2001 that he began incorporating it into his act. Hills says he felt he could too easily have become a novelty act and that he "didn't want to be known as the one-legged comedian ... I wanted to prove myself as a comic before talking about this."[10]

Hills regularly has a sign language interpreter at his festival shows, a move sparked by a performance he did in Adelaide at a disability art conference.[11] An interpreter had been provided at the show, and Hills found that it not only allowed the deaf audience members to enjoy his material but was also an entertaining and fascinating experience for the hearing audience members. "Now I have hearing people who will only book [for signer shows]," he says.[4]

Television career [edit]

Adam Hills dressed as Frank N. Furter from The Rocky Horror Picture Show during a closing segment of Spicks and Specks

Hills is best known for his role on the Australian music trivia show Spicks and Specks, which he has hosted since its premiere in 2005. In late 2007, he joined the show on a national live tour dubbed the "Spicks and Speck-tacular", with appearances in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Newcastle and Perth.[12] In late 2011 and early 2012, the show hit the road again for Spicks and Speck-tacular – The Finale, appearing in Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Wollongong, Canberra, Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne. He has also made appearances on Australian shows Rove Live, The Glass House and The Fat, as well as the British Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Mock the Week and Ask Rhod Gilbert.[13][14] Additionally he appeared on the first TV edition of BBC Northern Ireland's Great Unanswered Questions.[15] He conducted backstage interviews at Australia's 2005 and 2006 Logie Awards and was one of three presenters at the 2007 awards.[16][17]

In June 2008, Hills co-hosted the ABC coverage of the 2008 Summer Paralympics.[18][19]

In July 2009, Hills appeared in Thank God You're Here; he also appeared on Good News Week.

Hills presented his own weekly talk show, Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight, on the ABC from early 2011.[20]

In 2012, he was part of the UK Channel 4 TV commentary team for the London 2012 Summer Paralympics,[21] and hosted a daily alternative review of each day's events, The Last Leg, with Alex Brooker and comedian Josh Widdicombe.[22] The Last Leg was renewed for seven episodes in 2013, then extended to nine episodes,[23] beginning on 25 January 2013. Hills hosted the panel game Monumental for BBC Northern Ireland in 2013.

Other work [edit]

In 2002, Hills released a single titled Working Class Anthem, in which he sang the lyrics of the Australian National Anthem, "Advance Australia Fair", to the tune of "Working Class Man", a famous song by iconic Australian rocker Jimmy Barnes. Around 40 comedians contributed to the song, which made the independent top 10 in Australia. All proceeds went to the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council, an organisation supported by Barnes and Jon Bon Jovi that supports firefighters. Hills has performed the song several times on television, including a performance honouring Barnes' guest appearance on Spicks and Specks.[24]

Between 2003 and 2005, Hills wrote as a columnist for the BBC's disability website Ouch!.[25]

Solo shows [edit]

  • Stand Up and Deliver (1997)
  • Life Is Good (1998)
  • My Own Little World (1999)
  • Goody Two Shoes (2000)
  • Go You Big Red Fire Engine (2001) – Perrier nominee
  • Happy Feet (2002) – Perrier nominee
  • Cut Loose (2003) – Perrier nominee
  • Go You Big Red Fire Engine 2: Judgement Day (2004)
  • Characterful (2006)
  • Joymonger (2007)
  • Inflatable (2009)
  • Mess Around (2010)
  • Mess Around (2011)
  • Adam Hills Stands Up Live (2012)

Awards and nominations [edit]

Year Award Category Result Work
2006 Logie Awards Most Popular New Male Talent Nominated Spicks and Specks
Most Outstanding New Talent Nominated
2008 Most Popular Personality on TV Nominated
Most Popular Presenter Nominated
2009 Most Popular Personality on TV Nominated
Most Popular Presenter Nominated
2010 Most Popular Personality on TV Nominated
Most Popular Presenter Nominated
2011 Most Popular Personality on TV Nominated
Most Popular Presenter Nominated
2012 Most Popular Personality on TV Nominated Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight
Most Popular Presenter Won
2013 Most Popular Personality on TV Nominated

References [edit]

  1. ^ Slattery, Annette (2 April 2006). "An Interview with Adam Hills". The Groggy Squirrel. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2008. 
  2. ^ Baily, John (23 September 2008). "The 50 year plan". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 26 September 2008. Retrieved 4 October 2008. 
  3. ^ AAP (7 April 2007). "ABC's Denton, Lilley and Hills nominated for Gold Logie". Herald Sun. Retrieved 19 August 2008. 
  4. ^ a b Di Fonzo, Benito (17 May 2007). "Adam Hills: Joymonger". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 August 2008. 
  5. ^ "Wedding caps a top month for Adam Hills", The Daily Telegraph (28 January 2010)
  6. ^ Elliott, Tim (28 June 2008). "Mr Nice Guy". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 August 2008. 
  7. ^ Staff writer. "Adam Hills". Chortle. Archived from the original on 29 August 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2008. 
  8. ^ a b Burgess, Marissa (14 October 2004). "Hill Be Back". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 19 August 2008. [dead link]
  9. ^ Whittaker, Andrea. "Adam Hills". Reach Out!. Archived from the original on 26 July 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2008. 
  10. ^ Scott-Norman, Fiona (5 April 2006). "Unspeakably Funny". The Age. Retrieved 19 August 2008. 
  11. ^ Hills, Adam (6 August 2003). "Sign Here If You're Normal". Ouch!. Retrieved 19 August 2008. [dead link]
  12. ^ Braithwaite, Alyssa (22 August 2007). "Spicks and Specks to hit the road". NEWS.com.au. Retrieved 19 August 2008. [dead link]
  13. ^ "BBC One - Ask Rhod Gilbert, Series 1, Episode 5". Bbc.co.uk. 2010-10-27. Retrieved 2013-04-23. 
  14. ^ Adam Hills at the Internet Movie Database
  15. ^ [1][dead link]
  16. ^ Enker, Debbie (24 May 2006). "Hills Hoist". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 August 2008. 
  17. ^ Sydney Confidential (23 May 2007). "Fifi reluctant star on on box". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 19 August 2008. 
  18. ^ Metlikovec, Jane (19 June 2008). "Comedian Adam Hills to host Paralympics". Herald Sun. Retrieved 19 August 2008. 
  19. ^ "Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games: The ABC TV Sports's Team in Beijing". ABC TV online. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 7 September 2008. 
  20. ^ "Adam Hills to host ABC talk show". The Spy Report (Media Spy). 2 December 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2010. 
  21. ^ "Channel 4 assembles groundbreaking Paralympic presenting team", Channel 4, 28 February 2012
  22. ^ "The Last Leg With Adam Hills". Metro.co.uk (Metro.co.uk). 30 August 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2012. 
  23. ^ "Risking laugh and limb pays off" by Paul Kalina, The Sydney Morning Herald, 21 February 2013
  24. ^ Staff writer (22 January 2003–). "Disco Inferno". Chortle. Retrieved 19 August 2008. 
  25. ^ "Adam Hills". Ouch!. 21 November 2005. Retrieved 19 August 2008. [dead link]

External links [edit]
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