North Adams, MA - Comic Dave Hill is ready to shepherd in a new generation of comedy that demands more than merely being funny. Hill uses music, video, email blasts, and interviews to push past the expected joke into an entirely new level of hilarity. This awkward, megalomaniac star of his own show, Dave Hill Explosion, has been heralded by Variety Magazine as one of its "Ten Comics to Watch," and has been termed "hilariously uncomfortable" in the manner of Andy Kaufman and Chris Elliott. Hill will give an Alt Cab performance at MASS MoCA.
Amassing and managing an army of social networking techniques, Dave Hill clearly speaks the language of the new comedy scene, multiplying these features into a balloon of unbelievable success. If it's good to have a band, he has six - one of them providing fodder for his recent one-night-only performance Big In Japan (they actually are). If it's important to network with celebrities, he interviews three each night on his show - stars like Rufus Wainwright, Ira Glass, and Steve Guttenberg. Hill's videos have gone viral many times over, and he was recently featured in the "Recommends" section of McSweeney's-an especially big accomplishment considering he was flanked by blueberries and the italicized Garamond ampersand.
Hill takes style very seriously. His suits are given to him for free from tailors at Penguin, making him possibly the best-dressed comic since Eddie Izzard. His interviews are conducted with a huge, fluffy boom microphone held in his hand so that the audience doesn't miss any of his grand orations because of his wild gesticulations and tendency to wander away from his subject and/or point. He is simultaneously engrossed in his interviewee and entirely consumed by self-centered paranoia. Hill delights in probing for the most bizarre, erstwhile trivia of an actor's career, his contagious enthusiasm pulling the audience along for the ride.
Part of Hill's appeal is that it is impossible to tell where the act ends and he begins. A performer through and through, Hill never lets you know how much he believes the outrageous things that come out of his mouth.
Hill started as a free-lance writer for The New York Times, Salon, HBO, Blender, the Huffington Post, Guitar World, VH1, Spike TV, and The Learning Channel, until someone finally put him in front of a camera. Since then, Hill has been building up a steady fan base from his featured appearances on MTV, Comedy Central, VH1, Cartoon Network, Sundance Channel, TLC, Current TV, and Spike TV. His performance at MASS MoCA promises comedy, story-telling, mischief, and some of that obnoxious show business Hill's fans expect.
Date: Saturday, July 10, 2010
Time: 8:00 PM.
Location: Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art
Tickets to Dave Hill are $12 in advance, $16 the day of the show, and $10 for students. MASS MoCA members receive a 10% discount. Doors will open at 7 PM with dinner and snacks available from Lickety Split and drinks from the MASS MoCA bar, both before and during the show. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office located on Marshall Street in North Adams from 11 AM until 5 PM daily (except Tuesday) through June 25. After June 25, 10 AM until 6 PM everyday. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during Box Office hours or online at
www.massmoca.org any time.
