Admittedly,
I've never been a huge fan of Hills. His cheesy forced grin, the easy
targets, the insincere over rehearsed material and the terrible
attempts at an American accent - quite frankly - they've always just
got on my nerves. However, none of that stops "Live In The Suburbs"
(Hills' debut DVD release) being one of the more entertaining stand up
performances I've seen. Basically, Hills comes off as the nice
guy you would bring home to your mum. His constant interaction with the
audience (while lazy stand up) seems to quickly endear him to the crowd
(all hailing from the suburban suburb of Pakenham) - at times he simply
listens to audience members talk about their suburb - turning the
performance into a conversation moreso than a routine.
From
the opening minutes of the show, Hills begins to charm the
audience, bringing up an elderly crowd member and encouraging him to
re-create a James Brown performance "I can't go on, I can't go on". It
works perfectly as an ice breaker and the audience simply love him from
that moment on as they feel like they are part of the show. When
Hills isn't working off the audience, he is treading out some tried and
true material on Gays in the Army, his fake leg and traveling (although
if you've ever seen Hills do a set before on TV or at a Gala you'll
know these bits off by heart yourself). Ultimately, while
not ground breaking comedy - heck, it's not even that original - Hills
is likable enough to make this an enjoyable watch. Obviously this is
aimed at the ever growing Spicks and Specks crowd, and no doubt they'll lap up the laughs with this. It's comedy you can sit and watch with the family - and sometimes, that is just what you need. EXTRAS Despite the fact that Good News Week was axed almost 10 years ago now, it's GNW TV Productions (which include Spicks and Specks, The Glass House, The Comedy Gala) still seem to churn out a good deal of products. The special features on "Live In The Suburbs" is a testament to that, with several archived clips featuring Hill from The Glass House and, some off cuts from the comedy festival filling the specials void. However,
there are a few clever featurette inclusions in which Hills travels to
several destinations in Pakenham (which are suggested by audience
members the night before) to Pakenham Upper and the Pakenham Farmers
which reveals an array of colourful characters. Don't be surprised if GNW TV Productions don't extent these and churn out a few more Pakenham TV specials - but hey, anything is better than 20 to 1 or The Big Questions! Conclusion:
Movie 70% Extras: 65%
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