Dave Hill
Who is Dave Hill? It’s a question I ask myself often, which is strange considering the kind of access I have. This much I can tell you though- I am the new Hollywood “It” girl, the next Leo, America’s fresh-faced boy next door, and your new best friend all rolled into one.
I am a poet, a dancer, and- perhaps most of all- a thief. Soon I am to steal your heart.
More to the point, however, I am a writer, performer, musician, actor, comedy-type person, artist, and thinking man originally from Cleveland, Ohio but now living in the Big City, New York to be exact.
On the show business front, you might recognize me as a frequent on-air correspondent on the popular premium cable television channels HBO and Cinemax. Or maybe you saw me on Fuse TV’s “Hoppus on Music,” a show I was totally on all the time until it was canceled.
I also recently starred in the wildly popular “King of Miami” program on the MOJO network (a futuristic high-definition television channel that was recently destroyed in a horrible explosion) which is now airing in the United Kingdom on the futuristic Film24 channel. Or perhaps you’ve seen me on Court TV’s comedy news show “Smoking Gun TV,” which was canceled.
I’ve also shown up on the popular MTV, Comedy Central, BBC-America, VH1, Adult Swim, Sundance Channel, TLC, Current TV, and Spike TV networks a few times. Deal with it. Sometimes I miss being able to walk into the free clinic and stuff without being harassed by people who watch TV really late at night, but for the most part, I gotta say this “fame thing” suits me well. Really, really well.
On the writing front, I have written for the New York Times, GQ, Salon, VICE, McSweeney’s, HBO, Blender, the Huffington Post, FHM UK, the New York Daily News, XXL, Guitar World, Guitar Player, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, VH1, Spike TV, The Learning Channel, Court TV, and a bunch of other people too. I also wrote “The Black Metal Dialogues”, which is pretty much the biggest thing to happen to the Internet since that one picture of the guy with puke coming out of his nose.
Additionally, I am a contributor to the popular public radio program “This American Life”. And my first book, Tasteful Nudes will be published by St. Martin’s Press May 22, 2012, and I’m not even kidding, so please buy a lot of copies. It is the greatest book of all-time.
When I’m not busy being on TV all the time, I perform in New York City clubs. I get up on stage and talk about stuff, read something I wrote, dance around a little bit, show a short film I made, or just sort of touch hearts in general.
I am also the host of a live chat/variety/donkey show called the Dave Hill Explosion, which is pretty much #1 in its time slot as far as I’m concerned. And one time, during a routine flight layover at the Newark airport, I staged an impromptu one-man interpretation of the award-winning musical Cats entirely within the confines of my trousers.
As long as we’re on the topic, I should probably also mention that I have appeared at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen and was named by Variety Magazine as one of their “10 Comics to Watch” in 2007. I’m not messing around with this sh*t.
Aside from all of that stuff, I have also rocked America (and even parts of Canada) as a member of such critically-acclaimed-but-not-so-popular-as-to-be-considered-a-sellout bands as Uptown Sinclair, Cobra Verde, and Sons of Elvis.
Lately, I have been rocking people into submission as the singer and guitar player for Valley Lodge and also the guitar player for the Walter Schreifels Band and the bass player/guitar player for Diamondsnake. There is talk of stickers.
Anyway, so yeah, that’s pretty much the deal with me. I could go on but I really don’t like talking about myself that much. If you want to keep reading though, here is some stuff that other people said about me that I have organized here in the convenient and popular quotation format:
“Whether he’s interviewing a pet psychic or Jimmy Kimmel, Hill usually manages to derail the conversation to his own insecurities with hilariously uncomfortable results.”
-Variety Magazine
“Brilliant.”
-New York Magazine
“Cult New York comedian Hill is a hugely talented funnyman.”
-Time Out London
“Hill’s loose jabs and affable, nice-guy demeanor are what make his gently absurdist comedy so enjoyable.”
-The Onion
“Great comic ideas seem to flood out of him, whether he’s mashing up home videos with clips of extreme arthouse movies or engaging in a six-month flame war with a Norwegian black metal musician.”
-The Guardian UK
“He is at the vanguard of a new class of entertainers.”
-Wall Street Journal
“Ever since Dave Hill moved from his hometown of Cleveland to New York four years ago, the Gotham comedy scene hasn’t been the same”
-New York Daily News
“He’s always ‘on,’ and by that, we mean ‘hilarious.’ We admit to being a little bitter and jealous about this.”
-McSweeney’s
“There’s a good chance that Hill is one of the funniest people alive who also happens to be a really great writer.”
-The Atlantic
“Like the best comedy, it can be unsettling, and it works because it contrasts so perfectly with the aura of unironic sweetness that Hill projects.”
-Capital New York
“I saw a great young guy last night named Dave Hill who is really funny.”
-Robin Williams, MoviesOnline.ca
“I was royally rocked by Dave.”
-The Daily Mirror UK
“50 Funny People You Should Be Following On Twitter” List
-Huffington Post
“Hill actually is awesome at man-on-the-street interviews. He has a harmless approach but throws zingers when they’re least expected.”
-The Cleveland Plain Dealer
“140 Characters You Should Follow on Twitter” List
-Paper Magazine
“Hill’s deadpan delivery as a talk show host who has severely overestimated his own coolness is priceless.”
-AM New York
“He’s comedy’s master craftsman.”
-Philadelphia Weekly
“Dave Hill’s talk show is like being on an acid trip with a gentle bunny and Joe Franklin.”
-Time Out New York
“Like watching a self-important teenager strut around his bedroom, a fantasy world of his own fame complete with nunchucks and all that is ‘totally sweet’.”
-The Aspen Times
“It really burns my tollhouse cookies that more people aren’t aware of the genius of New York comedian Dave Hill.”
-Portland Monthly
“Thanks to his quirky humor and knack for attention-getting, Dave Hill has shot to the top in a surprisingly short period of time.”
-Time Out New York
“Dave Hill needs an introduction — but not for long.”
-L.A. Weekly
“He has an incredibly quick wit…Hill’s greatest strength: his ability to include the subject, and by extension, the audience in the creation of the joke. He is genuine, which is why it works.”
-Fine Arts LA
“This is a thoroughly endearing comedy.”
-The Stage UK
