Is that a lot? I wouldn’t have the first clue. “Twenty pounds is about two mid-sized dogs,” Hill says, one of countless jokes he cracks during the interview. “No, let’s put it into a real conversion. I would say – you know, when I was in Australia last time I was at the koala sanctuary and it was the first time I had gotten to hold a koala and they’re very heavy, I never thought they were – so I would say two koalas worth. I know my audience”. Although we’re on the phone, it’s quite possible Hill adds a flirty wink when he says that.
Billed as “the hardest working middle aged man in show business” although describing himself to Beat as “the modern opposite version of Dame Edna”, NYC nightlife legend Hill is an old-school showman, right down to the Brylcreem and velvet bowtie, the songs and the stage patter. He’s suiting up to join NYC Cabaret Queen Bridget Everett for one night only at the Yarraville Club on June 7. If he can get back into his suit, that is. But he has a plan.
“Everybody smokes pot here in LA now so you know, here in Los Angeles when you get the munchies you don’t eat pizza or eggs or spaghetti like they do in New York. In Los Angeles you have like vegan cupcakes, yoghurt bars and strawberries – so that’s my diet plan. And that’s how I’m losing the weight for Australia. True story,” he says.
It’s not the first time Hill has performed in Australia, having been a part of Club Shizzle and touring with Dita Von Teese. It will, however, be his first time crossing the Westgate. “The only thing I know about Yarraville – and I’ve never said that word out loud in my life ever before until right now, I’m not sure what it means, but if you’re setting me up for a joke, I’ll take it because that’s the business I’m in – is my friend Ali McGregor, who I did Club Swizzle with, said that it’s her favourite place, the coolest place to perform at, so we were like ‘ok, we’re going’”.
Hill and Everett – known for appearances in Inside Amy Schumer and who may have left some audience members requiring therapy after her hilariously interactive run of shows as part of Melbourne International Comedy Festival last year – are old buddies from way back. “And if I told you how many years you’d estimate our age,” Hill laughs. “So I’ll just say looong time, with three o’s”.
The pair would take turns guesting in each other’s shows as they were coming up through the ranks, not in New York’s comedy clubs but in night clubs. “It’s kind of like the old Las Vegas lounge days, where the main room everyone is seated and paying attention but the lounge you’ve got waitresses, you’ve got bartenders, you’ve got busboys, you’ve got drunk people, you’ve got casino slots. So I feel like what New York gave Bridget and I is that kind of experience and that thick skin.
“Our energy and our kind of wildness and our controlled chaos is because our career was in New York. Because she’s balls to the wall so to speak and I’m like that too, we very much operate from our guts when we’re performing and I think that’s really from coming up through New York night clubs for sure,” he says.
The result? “It’s gonna be a full dose of New York showbiz comin’” he says. “I don’t think there’s been a double bill like this coming through town for a long time, if ever. Just have them come, doesn’t matter, gay, straight, short, plus-sized – like myself, I’m like a plus-sized male model – you know, we just want everyone to come out and we’re going to have fun together.”
