American politics

From Live At The Apollo

More Rich Hall videos

Rich Hall in Melbourne
Live Review
Melbourne International Comedy Festival

He’s has been coming to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for more than 20 years. Yet because Rich Hall is such a familiar face, and because his shows rarely have big themes, or even titles, to draw the attention, he’s easily overlooked by all those critical radars seeking the next big thing.

Audiences are not so fickle, though, and he’s doing great business at the striking 600-capacity Capitol Theatre. And great work, come to mention it, too.

The highlights of his show are his mini-rants, as he gruffly barks out lyric insults against greed and stupidity, meaning he’s never short of source material. Each time his bitter adjectives and vitriolic insults build up a powerful momentum through their pounding rhythm, as Hall applies his musical ability to his words, creating beautiful crescendos of cantankerousness.

His native America provides an almost bottomless pit of material. In his firing line are rampant gun ownership; the hostile takeover of Cadbury’s by the culinary vandals at Kraft, and far-right fundamentalist politicians. Possibly easy targets, but he destroys them with simple common sense, absurd extrapolation, pitch-perfect metaphor and poetic language. A phrase such as ‘Moses is your meat thermometer,’ somehow has meaning, when in context.

Neither Britain nor Australia are off the hook, either. A highlight is his routine on the UK’s not entirely unexpected horsemeat scandal. But while lesser comics are content with sub-Twitter equine puns, he fires up yet another blistering diatribe of plain thinking, deliciously put. He is the gourmet, organic meat patty to the 10p-a-burger rivals.

His rants are punctuated with semi-improvised songs, such as the now-familiar tale of poor little Tommy trapped down a well, with only the ingenuity of one front-row punter to save him. Sadly, tonight’s real estate agent searched for the hero inside himself and came up empty-handed  – but still Hall developed his own, rather unlikely, rescue plan based on the chap’s occupation. More crowd-pleasing was a fast-paced musical tribute to Australian towns, somewhat akin in rhythm to Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start The Fire.

This grizzled Montanan finds joy in the wide-open spaces of this land; but on humanity he’s getting grumpier as he ages. And funnier with it. Here’s to 20 more years...

Edited 9/3/13 to correct capacity of the Capitol

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Rich Hall at Eden Court Theatre Inverness, to what looked like a sell-out gig on a Thursday evening in March,is quite an achievement! He delivered a solid performance and bonded with his audience from the start in his verbose grouchy manner we have come to know him for. Especially when he touches on the subject of World politics and America in particular. Being in a unique position to experience and witness life on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and observe the cultural differences and absurd views we have of each other and weave it it into his comedy material. The second half of his two hour set was his brand of comedy done in musical form, not the Otis T. Crenshaw persona unfortunately ! Maybe next time he's in Inverness? Audience loved this amiable American and he looked as if he enjoyed himself too!

Douglas Thomson, March 2012

A heroic show at Swindon battling a cold. I've been to a show every year for the last four and always leave with a huge grin on my face. Long may he continue!

Mel, November 2010

Saw Rich Hall last night at the Tobacco Factory in Bristol - he was so funny that I'm sure there are people with aching faces today! I've never laughed out loud so much - if you get a chance to see him, you really should go!

Sally, October 2010

Absolutely fantastic. Every time I see his work; perfect jokes, perfect delivery, just so funny!

James Quince, March 2010

Saw DVD recording. I think it did work at the Apollo. Brilliant night.

Con, September 2009

I really like this guy. I felt sorry for him though at the Greenwich Comedy festival. Poor compere, in a big linen tent and a silent disco outside that kept on yelling over his gags. He got off the stage as quickly as possible, wish I'd held on and waited until he appeared at a good venue like the Apollo. Comedy Genius

Justin, September 2009

The best Edinburgh show for a while - not that the others were bad just that this one didn't have the customary dip in the middle. Bit pricey, though

Andy Barr, August 2009

Just saw him tonight at Sydney opera house in the Studio. Made the best of a 1/3rd full room, coping with a guy who was violently sick in one side of the room to make things a bit more eventful. I only heard that he was playing 5 days before so he needed more publicity, but he was pure genius for an hour and a half, both as Rich and Otis. Very quick, and great sarcastic wit. Well worth it.

Mike, March 2009

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