Bec Hill: ‘I’m slightly obsessed with Batman & Robin’
The funniest sketch I’ve ever seen ...
Dave Allen’s sketch where Frankenstein’s monster plays with a little girl in the woods. It is a masterclass in “bait-and-switch” writing and it still makes me laugh to this day. Worth a YouTube deep-dive.
The funniest book I’ve ever read …
The Bible. The book 2 Kings in the Old Testament, to be precise. Comedy is all about surprise and detail and there’s a line in chapter two where a bunch of youths accost Elisha and call him a “baldhead” (in other versions, “baldy”). Elisha curses them in the name of God and two bears (in some versions, “she-bears”, which is AWESOME) come out and maul 42 of the kids. Maybe that’s why it’s the meaning of life.
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The funniest TV show I’ve ever seen …
My entire family communicates solely through Red Dwarf and Simpsons quotes. Which is awkward as quite a few of their best lines are vaguely sexual. Bless my mum for trying to explain to me and my little brother what a “2lb, black-ribbed knobbler” was supposed to be.
The funniest film I’ve ever seen …
I’m slightly obsessed with Batman & Robin. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Mr Freeze and everyone makes fun of how he talks in ice puns, but here’s the thing: most of them aren’t even puns! At one point he says, “What killed ze dinosaurs? Ze ICE AGE!” That’s just a fact!
The funniest person I know …
My husband. I usually run most things I’m writing past him, because he always finds extra gags and toppers. I usually joke that I had to marry him because it was cheaper than hiring him.
The funniest heckle I’ve ever had ...
I was doing a Comedy Club 4 Kids gig and I opened with: “I was born in Australia,” and immediately a kid yelled out: “So? I was born in Ireland!” and then another kid yelled out: “I was born in Wales!” Then, on the front row, a tiny little boy raised his hand. I decided to abandon my set and roll with it, so I said: “Yes, mate?” and he said in a teeny voice: “I was born in September.”
The funniest meal I’ve ever eaten …
Probably a carrot that looked like it had a bum.
The funniest hairstyle I’ve ever had …
I swear the haircut Fleabag’s sister gets where she “looks like a pencil” is based on one I had when I first moved to London.
The funniest dream I’ve ever had …
I recently dreamed my brother and I were kids again and we were fighting. I discovered if I blinked, I could teleport, so I kept teleporting around him. He yelled out: “Muuumm!!! Bec’s defying the laws of physics!!!” as if it was just a normal annoying thing. I woke up laughing.
Bec Hill is on Jonathan Ross’s Comedy Club, ITV, Saturday 3 October, and can be heard on podcasts including A Problem Squared. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram
