the rather magnificent rich hall

 

Myself, Robbo, Kerrie and the FPO went along to see Rich Hall in Middlesbrough in May, and it he was hilarious.  Up to then, the funniest comedian l had seen was Billy Connolly in a small place in New York (coz l'm cool!), but the night out with Rich Hall was sooooo much better than l had hoped for, and just as good (if not better) than the Connolly show.  I was crying with laughter throughout, and although a lot of the show is obviously scripted, there was a lot of riffing with members of the audience as well, which highlighted how quickly Hall thinks on his feet. Sadly, there was no appearance of his alter ego, Otis Lee Crenshaw, but that didn't matter, as his command of comedy which he has honed over the years more than made up for it.

I've since finished reading three of Hall's books, the results of which were varied.  I enjoyed them all, but although the language used and topics covered were impressive, there wasn't that many laugh out loud parts, except in the 'I Blame Society' one, which has a potted history of Otis' life and marriages to various Brendas.  Some of the song lyrics in that were both clever and funny, and you find yourself rooting for the old rascal.  The other two books would have been a lot better if performed on stage, as they lacked Halls delivery and timing, but the content was pretty top notch.

Anyway, here's a clip of him reading from 'Inglorious Bastards' and some videos.
Just a pity he didn't have tour posters for sale, as they would have been bought, signed, framed and hung in no time (a bit like Otis himself).








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