2010 Edinburgh Fringe

Interview: Dave Hill, comedian and musician

Dave Hill and his band are mega in Japan, a fact that still astonishes the New Yorker and the rest of the Valley Lodge group, despite the fact that, when they tour there, they are mobbed by legions of autograph-hunters and everyone sings along at gigs.

Edinburgh's festival fringe has a reputation as the perfect place for lesser-known American comics to forge an intimate relationship with UK audiences. Bill Hicks is the best known, but there have been many more, from daffy punster Emo Philips to the excoriating Doug Stanhope. Those speculating on who might be the next transatlantic unknown to break through over here should check out Dave Hill, a spectacularly inventive New York comic appearing in two shows at the Pleasance Courtyard. Hill's work mixes bizarre video footage with music and an extraordinary rambling self-obsessed stand-up to provide a tour de force of absurdist comedy, capable of appealing to teenage Boosh fans while keeping the grown-ups onside. His solo show Big In Japan is the full showcase for his unlikely talents, while late-night chat show The Dave Hill Explosion adds guests and even more anarchy.