Eden Court, Inverness

1st February 2016

Material  Delivery   Laughs

Not to be confused with the Boston University student residence, Rich Hall is a familiar face to anyone who watches panel TV shows like QI, Have I got news for you, 8 out 10 cats and many  more. However as with many comedians his TV appearances do not give justice to how, funny and dark he really is.

A brash and unapologetic American he has much affection for the UK and this comes across in his comedy. Like an angry firecracker he was straight into a tirade of profanities and blues guitar, his jokes came out like bullets of side achingly funny observations and super sharp jibes. The audience immediately took to him and there was absolute hysterical laughter coming from all round the theatre.

Although his style is that of an angry man (he is apparently the inspiration for Mo in the Simpsons) he certainly is not that at all and he takes great joy in his art. His ability to make up hilarious lyrics on the spot is also quite amazing.

His act consists of many parts, he tells straight stand up, then improvises a song, he has strong observational humour and sharp wit and he jumps between these styles with the attention span of a goldfish with ADHD. At some points he is so fast that you find yourself lost in laughter, in his story telling he dances along boundaries of political correctness before crashing head first over it with devastating effect. Rich is obviously a savvy and astute observer and showed this throughout his observations on the American and British political scenes, but even when talking about more complex subjects he never excludes the audience.

Overall it was a brilliant night in an excellent venue and a great time was had by all.

Certainly for an adult audience Rich Hall is one of the funniest acts you can see live.  Rich is next taking his show to Shetland, Kirkwall, Ullapool, Skye and Forres and if you can go just go!

 

Reviewer : Stewart Tonkin