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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Consistently makes me cheerlead from my seat. Original, funny, and mesmerising, as well as being one of the most engaging and entertaining feminists in the country. A great storyteller and a great stand-up.

Jane, April 2005

I was expecting the worst based on his appearance. Needn't have worried. The man is a genius. Go and see him

JD, March 2005

Very refreshing and enjoyable slant on life, the universe and Mt Little Ponies

Dave, March 2005

You know that laughter where no sound comes out and you look like you're struggling to pass water? That's what he does to you.

Colonel, March 2005

Hilarious and endearing. A bit wasted on the audience of near silent freshers and I'd agree that there were no big killer laughs, just non stop brilliance from beginning to end. Go see him.

Ben, February 2005

Total genius

Sam Hancock, January 2005

In short, a genius.

Alan Donald, January 2005

Saw him last night at the Dome in Brighton. Near total silence for his entire act. Sorry, but despite his worthy views, I can't see why he won the Perrier newcomer award. His act is original and yet dull at the same time. Nobody laughed.

Marie Sampson, October 2004

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