harry hill review november 2000

ThePhilharmonic 17-11-00
Delayed due to the fact that Birmingham exists, Harry Hill came on to the stage a good thirty minutes later than expected. That meant an extra half hour of soaking up the atmosphere or an extra thirty minutes of watching people loose their footing in the foyer. So, after soaking up the atmos’ in the foyer I decided to take my seat.

The weather nor the delay had done anything to dampen the anticipation among the audience, and so it was, that with the fantastic accompaniment of his backing band, The Caterers, Harry Hill bounded on to the stage with a rousing rendition of ‘This Charming Man’.He is after all, Britain’s favourite Morrissey impersonator, and with the wig and the flowers and the dance and the appearance on ‘Stars in Their Eyes’, he is not too far wrong.

After the quiff wig had been removed and the flowers disposed of, it was down to the real business - but what is Harry Hill’s ‘real’ business?
Trying to put a Harry Hill show into words is almost impossible, his show is almost unstoppable. Moving along at such breakneck speed that he can cover topics as diverse as matador school, the optimistic chimes of ice-cream men luring whales into shallow water, the musical chimes of estranged king-sized and bite-sized Shredded Wheat as well as donkeys, phone-a-friend and drummers learning to count, all washed down of course with chop juice, in just five minutes of his act.

From start to finish Harry Hill has something going on, often seeming stupid to those who fall on the loathe-him side of this fan base. For those who fall on the love-him side you’ll know exactly what I mean.