Ted Hill – is weird. His clothes are weird. His vibes are weird. His comedy is weird. He’s always been a weird little ADHD weirdo. But now he must grow up and do some proper, traditional stand-up comedy. There will* be NO multimedia mayhem, definitely NO computer chaos and absolutely ZERO silliness. ‘Hill’s childish energy belies the slickness of his tech and his irrepressible nerd’s fondness for graphs’ (Scotsman). *probably
Would you mind giving us a brief insight into what your show is?
My show is a multimedia comedy exploration of what it means to be weird and what it means to be normal. It’s basically an excuse for me to do all the silliest ideas that I’d up to now been too afraid to pursue.
Tell us about the creative team and the process involved?
I first came up with the idea while talking to my friend Alex Preston, who was working on production for my show last year. The idea was to lean into the things that make me weird, rather than hide away from them. From there the idea developed into an exploration of why I’ve always felt a needless pressure to be normal. That process happened thanks to working with Joz Norris in an early development capacity, and with Elf Lyons, who is directing the final product. Most of the ideas have been bounced around between myself and my close friend Connie, who is also doing the tech for the show. They are also super weird so they help push me to stay true to myself. And they know loads about falcons which was more useful than I’d anticipated.
How does it feel coming to the Fringe?
It feels amaziffying, which is a hybrid word I’ve invented to summarise the two powerful emotions doing battle in my brain right now
There are over 3,000 shows at the Fringe. So, what sets your show apart?
My show will be right up there in terms of the number of jokes per minute, and will definitely have one of the highest amounts of graphs of any comedy show. It’s stupid nerdy fun
Is there anything specific you’re hoping the audience will take away?
My free Falcon stickers. And an appreciation for weird people and the benefits they provide the world.
Your ideal audience is in attendance, who’s watching? Or more importantly – who isn’t there…
I have a joke about Pele (the footballer) and one about Henry VIII (the king) in the show, so if they were sat next to each other in the front row, I imagine i’d be able to get a few minutes out of that
It’s an intense month, so where you’re able, how do you plan to relax, and are there any other shows you intend to see or want to recommend?
I like to do one day on, one day off with seeing shows. One day I’ll see 3 shows, the next I won’t see any. I find sitting still for more than 3 hours a day to be very bad for my ADHD, so 3 is my hard limit. I like to see someone I’ve never seen before at least once during those 3 show days. This year, the person I’ve never seen before that I’m most looking forward to seeing is Tom Cashman.
In your ideal world, how can we improve the Fringe, of performance, and the industry?
Selfishly, the first thing I’d change is that my show would be in a massive venue and sell out before the run starts. Once that is taken care of, I guess I’d look to see if my ideal world fixes accommodation costs accessibility issues etc.
Interested in being featured on our Have a Gander page? With many previews and Q&As lined up, we’re always happy to chat about including your show in future articles. Please do get in touch through the contact page to feature in an upcoming ‘Have A Gander’