Skinheads, Readers' Wives and My Little Ponies 2

Clip from his DVD, out on Go Faster Stripe

More Wil Hodgson videos

Wil Hodgson: Punk Rock Tales - Fringe 2009
Live Review

The 2004 Perrier newcomer award winner returns for his sixth fringe with a slight change in tack. Having been described as a fat Julian Cope standing behind the mic by one ungenerous reviewer (actually the jury’s out on whether or not that is an insult or not) he’s decided to adopt the Dave Allen approach and sit down for his latest tales.

To make himself feel at home, Hodgson’s chosen a pub table and chair from which to present his latest adventures from his home town of Chippenham. It’s an hour’s worth of material that will probably change from one night to the next but at the top of the show, for the benefit of anyone who hasn’t seen him before, he offers a little background of himself as a tattooed, pink-haired, leopard-print sporting, Care Bear loving feminist from the West Country who’s an admirer of the larger lady (give him Fern Britton over Cotton any day).

He goes on to paint a vivid picture of the bittersweet relationship with his small town, full of quirky colour, but also small mindedness. Local ‘characters’ loom large: the heavily tattooed Clint, Maverick aka the Black Panther (after the serial killer not the civil rights movement) and The Running Man, who really was in training for the New York marathon.

There are some lovely moments here from his homage to old man pubs to his closing routine of his run-in with a racist from Leeds and his kebab-hurling assault - the denouement of which he raises out of his chair to tell. It’s a story he claims has no punchline, making the analogy that it’s a little like life. But no punchline doesn’t mean it’s not a fine way to close the show.

Punk Folk Tales may be casual in their approach – but you can be sure that they’ll be enthralling, astute and poetic in their execution.

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Gigged with Will last night on home turf in Chippenham, relaxed and engaging, as good as ever.

Nik Hill, September 2009

Great performer with some great material. He subverts social concepts effectively and efficiently in his club sets, but still has a gag-gag-gag approach within the stories he narrates. I like this guy a lot.

Alex Maple, July 2009

Saw him when he supported Mark Thomas will try to catch his show up in Edinburgh as he is really a funny guy. I loved him!

Jenny Logan, June 2009

I saw Will a few months ago at a theatre type gig in Evesham; i knew what to expect, the majority of the audience didn't and, for a few people, it showed. He has an agenda, he is a performer and has points to get across, some that are funny, some that are thought provoking, and some that aren't; he doesn't really banter with an audience and his style could easily be interpreted as "reading" from a script; visually he can shock and i think people are genuinely uncomfortable at times with this and their minds are not always therfore in tune with what he's about. I'd love to see him relax a bit more and engage with the audience as i think this would show a different side and get more people going with him on his magical journeys! He's a talented, down to earth bloke with good values, don't think we've seen the best of him yet.

Nik Hill, February 2009

Seen Wil on January 27th at the Empire comedy club in Belfast. I hate to put comedians down but it felt like he was constantly reading from a script, and a bad one at that. The comedy was completely irrelevant to the people there that night. He did not deserve the treatment he received from a few members of the audience but the performance was bleak as he lost the confidence of the crowd within minutes.

Peter D, January 2009

I think Wil's one of those who you either get or you don't, there is no middle ground; haven't seen him for about six months now so hard to comment on recent performances, he'll never be a tv favourite as that's not what he's about, but if you want to hear it from the heart then Wil's your man. Clever, articulate and funny.

Nik Hill, November 2006

Tonight, at Clifton Hill House in Bristol Will Hodgson was hilarious and engaging. Unfortunately he seemed to leave in a huff (apparently because he thought he'd offended someone with a joke). However he made the night and everybody bloomin loved him.

CHH, October 2006

I love him, and find him very funny. Probably not everyone's cup of tea , but I find him refreshing in a sea of same old, same old comedians. Looking forward to his Ed show - haven't been disapointed so far by any of the shows I've seen.

Susie B, July 2006

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