Skinheads, Readers' Wives and My Little Ponies 2

Clip from his DVD, out on Go Faster Stripe

More Wil Hodgson videos

Wil Hodgson: Punkanory
Live Review

Performing his seventh consecutive solo show at the Fringe this year – the first won him the Perrier newcomer award in 2004 - Hodgson has become something of an institution.

It’s reassuring that amid the Fringe craziness that there’s a room somewhere in town where you can go and listen to the world according to the idiosyncratic Hodgson. And a beguiling world it is.

For those not in the know (where have you been?) he’s a comic with leftie sensibilities: a feminist who celebrates the female form in all its wonderful variations in size or age, he’s a skinhead but what hair he does sport is pink, he has armfuls of Care Bear tattoos and is a resident of Chippenham, Wiltshire, who despises a small-town frame of mind.

Today there are further tales of the above but in particular the show focuses on his collections; he has Care Bears, My Little Ponies, Spice Girls memorabilia, oh and a cat to perturb any nosy people who go poking about the sofa where his Care Bears live. To one side of the stage he has a soapbox on which to physically stand when he feels the metaphorical need to mount it.

As well celebrating his own memorabilia, Hodgson poignantly recalls the meticulously and lovingly assembled collection of an another local character who died, leaving his precious items of fandom and pretty much nothing else. He also divulges the whereabouts of a spectacular car boot sale in Edinburgh where he almost, but not quite, bought a flintlock pistol.

As ever, his ideas are inventive and invested with a beautiful turn of phrase, where else would you hear parallels drawn between Care Bear land Care-a-Lot and Stalin’s regime?

It has to be said that there’s something of the religious service about the small, quiet crowd sat beneath the stone arches of the Caves on a weekday afternoon listening to Hodgson’s sermon; a passionate diatribe by a man genuinely enthusiastic about his subjects. Amen to that.

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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

It was excruciating - like watching someone who is losing the plot on stage, on the edge of a nervous breakdown. The laughs got thinner and thinner on the ground as the comedy departed and heartbreaking tragic memories set in.

Adelina, July 2006

I'm fortunate enough to have seen Wil perform many times over the years both as a compere and an act. He has always delivered a first class show leaving an audience often crying with laughter. A true talent who rightly deserves to go far.

Matthew Sheppard, May 2006

Wil Hodgson has become a real treat to watch. He never fails to impress me with his routine. I have seen him twice in the last month and the new material that he was trying out for his new Edinburgh show was superb, not a knob joke in sight! this guy never compromises for one moment, his routine is fresh funny and thought provoking, just utterly brilliant

Bruce Banks, May 2006

Just very, very good

Big Guns Jocelyn, April 2006

Saw Will at Red Rose on April. 1 I felt I was the fool for buying the ticket as his set didn't involve much in the way of comedy - just a monologue/diatribe style of story telling. Should look at Simon Bligh to see how a personal story can be turned into a 45 minute comedy masterpiece. Like the 'challenging' nature of his act, and his persona - it just lacked laughs. Sorry

Iain, Ealing, April 2006

Wil Hodgson is the most important comic around at the moment. His material and set transcends 'stand up' in the traditional sense and it is a pleasure to witness. Do yourself a favour, go and see the amazing Hodgson

Big Rch, January 2006

Wil is a comic genius. Different from mundane ordinary comics, a pleasure to see.

Natilly, November 2005

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