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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Seen Will at Bar Blue Comedy on the Albert Dock Liverpool. I though he was going to be funny but he had a nightmare and if it hadn't been for the compare Chris Cairns I'd have asked for a refund. He finished his set early and although i felt sorry for him i was glad he did. He never once 'came up for air' and didn't give anyone a chance to get his jokes. If i saw him on the list again, i'd give him another go but wouldn't be optimistic.

John, April 2010

Gigged with Will last night on home turf in Chippenham, relaxed and engaging, as good as ever.

Nik Hill, September 2009

Great performer with some great material. He subverts social concepts effectively and efficiently in his club sets, but still has a gag-gag-gag approach within the stories he narrates. I like this guy a lot.

Alex Maple, July 2009

Saw him when he supported Mark Thomas will try to catch his show up in Edinburgh as he is really a funny guy. I loved him!

Jenny Logan, June 2009

I saw Will a few months ago at a theatre type gig in Evesham; i knew what to expect, the majority of the audience didn't and, for a few people, it showed. He has an agenda, he is a performer and has points to get across, some that are funny, some that are thought provoking, and some that aren't; he doesn't really banter with an audience and his style could easily be interpreted as "reading" from a script; visually he can shock and i think people are genuinely uncomfortable at times with this and their minds are not always therfore in tune with what he's about. I'd love to see him relax a bit more and engage with the audience as i think this would show a different side and get more people going with him on his magical journeys! He's a talented, down to earth bloke with good values, don't think we've seen the best of him yet.

Nik Hill, February 2009

Seen Wil on January 27th at the Empire comedy club in Belfast. I hate to put comedians down but it felt like he was constantly reading from a script, and a bad one at that. The comedy was completely irrelevant to the people there that night. He did not deserve the treatment he received from a few members of the audience but the performance was bleak as he lost the confidence of the crowd within minutes.

Peter D, January 2009

I think Wil's one of those who you either get or you don't, there is no middle ground; haven't seen him for about six months now so hard to comment on recent performances, he'll never be a tv favourite as that's not what he's about, but if you want to hear it from the heart then Wil's your man. Clever, articulate and funny.

Nik Hill, November 2006

Tonight, at Clifton Hill House in Bristol Will Hodgson was hilarious and engaging. Unfortunately he seemed to leave in a huff (apparently because he thought he'd offended someone with a joke). However he made the night and everybody bloomin loved him.

CHH, October 2006

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