Review – Craig Hill: Tartan About!

Craig Hill knows how to make an entrance. He also enjoys house music, tea bagging and playing with his ‘false bob’. As his comedy gig unfolded, though, it became apparent that he’s really not a fan of Aussie accents. Or maybe he is, but only as fodder with which to constantly insult the audience. As in, “Your accent couldn’t make you sound more like a knuckle dragger”, or, more simply, “Your accent is mingin'”. Cheeky ribbing of the Aussie accent can be done well. It can even be really funny. This wasn’t. Given that Hill’s gig was almost entirely based around audience interaction, or recounting banter from past gigs, the accent ‘joke’ came up about every two minutes. It got tiresome.

There were some good bits. I laughed half-heartedly a few times. Hill’s reworking of the song “Downtown” to describe the Edinburgh gay bar scene was giggle-worthy. He did some surprisingly convincing pop starlet impressions. An improvised dance routine with an audience member was cute. Taking a call when a phone in the crowd rang had some unexpectedly entertaining results. But my overall impression, dampened significantly by the inane bitching involved in most of his stories, was altogether ‘meh’. But, given that Hill spotted a few audience members who had seen him before, I suppose that his shtick must appeal to some.