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Adam HillsTo say that 2008 was a colossal year for comedian Adam Hills would be an understatement. "Yeah, it's most certainly gone alright," modestly responds the man in question after I list a few of his achievements: firstly his Gold Logie nomination for hosting the hit quiz show, 'Spicks & Specks', and, along with his co-stars, Myf Warhurst, and Alan Brough, appearing on the cover of 'Rolling Stone' magazine. Sharing his excitement for the latter, I ask Hills if he then duly bought 'twelve copies' for his mother? "Well, she certainly got a few," he replies, "and I've also got a massive A3 poster of that too which I'm going to get framed for when I finally get a study." Now, dividing his time between his homes in Sydney and London, Hills is also juggling his television commitments with having to write a new show for this year's Fringe, together with a few diversions along the way. "I was thrown into the mix the night before last and flew to Hong Kong for a corporate gig," he says of his constantly busy schedules. "I made a night of it and I'm now back," he says in a moment of realisation. "Then I kind of woke up today and thought, 'Oh, I've got a whole bunch of interviews to do'. It's kind of inspired by my last visit to Adelaide," he tells me of 'Inflatable'. "When I rented a car at the airport the girl behind the counter asked me to tell her a joke," he continues to explain. "So I told her my favourite joke, which isn't a fantastic joke and in fact it's a bit shit, but that's why I like it." Hills then proceeds to tell me the gag which no doubt will be part of his act so, other than saying it involves an inflatable ball who gets in trouble for taking a pin to his inflatable school, I won't repeat it here. "And her response was to look back at me and say, 'Aw, that's such a dad joke,'" Hills cheerfully recalls, "but I love simple jokes like that. "But then I got thinking that, as a comedian, that's a sign that you're getting old. When you start telling dad jokes, so then the show kind of ends up mulling over what kind of dad I'd be and what lessons I'd have to pass onto my kids," he discloses. "So basically it's an hour and a bit of stand up and messing with the crowd. Having said that, I did a show a couple of years ago about becoming a godfather," he recollects, "and I have a ball whenever I'm with my godson. Generally, in life I don't try and make everybody I come into contact with laugh, but with him that's my reason for existence. I just want to make him laugh and I've got this feeling I'd be the same with my own kids," he muses. "I'm doing as much work as I can now because I've got this strange feeling that once I have kids I'm never going to leave the house, because I'm just going to stay home and try to make them laugh. I might even end up doing kids shows and doing all the stuff that made my kids laugh, and that will be hilarious because I'd eventually be trying out new jokes on my kids instead of my partner." Steve Jones |