Not Over The Hills

It's been a few years since Adam Hills did a 'proper' show. Since he and his wife welcomed daughter Beatrice Pearl in mid-2010, the Aussie comedy icon has eased back on stand-up touring in favour of spending more time at home. His triumphant return to festival comedy with Happyism has been a long time coming.

“About a year ago I started doing club gigs, working up some new bits, but in places like LA and Montreal, where I knew the audiences were discerning,” Hills says. “A few months ago I did a few low-profile shows in Melbourne, and have been doing  the same in London. Every comic needs a safe place in which they can fail.”

Hills says he wanted to steer away from talking too much about having a child in his new material, as many comics do. “It has informed this show though, because it makes me want a better world for my daughter,” he says. “More pointedly, it makes me want better role models for my daughter. I recently ranted at Joan Rivers on [my UK TV show] The Last Leg – oh yeah, I'm pretty tough when I'm taking on a 79-year-old woman who lives on the other side of the world – and it mostly came from the fact that I want my daughter to know that she can grow up to be whoever and whatever she wants to be without fear of judgement.” Instead, the material will be feel good comedy of the kind we've come to expect from Hills: “All my shows tend to be based on some sort of basic positive message – Happyism is my religion, trying to be happy, putting out positive energy at all times,” he says.

Hills's chat show The Last Leg has been a huge hit in Australia and the UK, starting up during the Paralympics and being picked up for a second series because, as Hills says, “[The UK's] Channel 4 saw the potential in three guys with four legs wrapping up the news of the week”. He says the concept of a show that explored disability side-by-side with comedy made some skittish, but he has won viewers over hard and found the perfect balance.

“I always knew we weren't going to be offensive in the show, but I also knew we couldn't just jump in on the first show and say exactly what we wanted to say,” he says. “When Channel 4 started advertising the show, there were so many complaints on Twitter that The Last Leg was an offensive show about the Paralympics. But once the show went to air, they stopped complaining. The whole reason behind the 'Is it okay?' segment was to make people feel comfortable with disability and realise that there was comedy and fun to be had with the Paralympics. The turning point for me was when we started getting positive tweets from the Paralympians. That's when I knew we were on the right track.”