Adam Hills has come back again to the Edinburgh Festival this time with his new show ‘Inflatable’. His accessible nature is apparent by the diversity of his awaiting audience. Most of the conversions outside start with “I saw him last year…”
Opening night may be a worry for lesser-known performers, but Hills had the luxury of a mostly enthusiastic crowd. Nevertheless, the audience were compelled to be charmed after an impromptu fifteen-minute start. Walking on stage with a bottle of Irn Bru in hand, Hills baited the front row by shaking up the bottle. Little did he know that Scott, the IT consultant with a bright white shirt would challenge him. With Scott now on stage and a new plan devised, the pair began to interpret eighties dance sensation ‘Flashdance’. After the sound technician managing to find the right music (‘What a feeling’) Scott was then doused in Irn Bru in appropriate fashion to an uproar of response. “That was as much a surprise to me as it was to you” we were told “you’ll have to come back every night now!”
Hills performance is everything he’s known for: warm, accessible and professional. He was on exuberant form, clearly relishing in his return to Auld Reekie. He won over a large swathe of people with his Connoly-esque Scotsman impressions, the audience interaction continued when he asked if there are were any kids in. A mortified ‘Chris’ was pointed out by family, and then by spotlight, and then told: “don’t inject drugs into your cock, ok?”
His observations branch out into some risky areas: paralympian gags, no-handed swimmers and deaf people being racist are just some of the mildly provocative subject matters Hills wanders into, but he always manages to keep it within a polite context. Tonight’s show pushes many of the right buttons, and the crowd take it in with open arms. However, ‘Inflatable’ is more of a tickler than falling about funny.
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