Review: DAVE HILL: CAVEMAN IN A SPACESHIP, Soho Theatre

“The laws don’t apply to me”

Dave Hill: Caveman in a Spaceship begins with Hill bursting through the door of Soho Theatre Upstairs on a bicycle, circling around the stage as music blasts and the audience cheers. A smoke machine goes off, covering the stage in fog, as another machine blows out snow-like confetti, with Hill going straight into its line of fire. Hill is a “New York City-based cult comedian” who uses his shows to bring together standup and music in an absurdist manner. In the middle of the show, he brings in his band, who he describes as the “best rhythm section I could find at 4:30 in the afternoon” (I believe their names are Anya and Steve). 

Hill’s style of comedy in this show is telling long and detailed stories interspaced with musical moments including some awesome guitar riffs. Some of these stories include pickup lines for the audience that specifically work in London, a rambling fake story about visiting West Norwood with his father every week (even though Hill is from Cleveland, Ohio), forming his own street gang and even one entirely made up of one-liners about Poundland.

Most of the jokes are quite absurd, coming out of nowhere and making for some fantastic moments. Even when he simply makes a statement, not a joke, Hill will say “Thank you” and dip his head, inviting the audience to applaud before quickly cutting them off. 

One of my favourite bits in the show was one in which Hill tells his own version of John 6:1-14 from the Bible, in which Jesus feeds over 5,000 people using only two small loaves of bread and two fish. If you’re going for biblical accuracy, you’re in for a surprise - though, with this show, what were you expecting? Hill describes the event as one of the “Top 10 Greatest Hits in the Bible” and goes into some insanely specific details on the wine, fish and bread that Jesus created for a man named Todd’s party, listing an impressive number of wines and fish and giving some really detailed descriptions of pumpernickel bread and spinach dip. This, like all stories throughout the show, is accompanied by random guitar riffs, making it even more hilarious. 

If I had to make one negative comment on the show, it would be that while the show is great, doesn’t really match up with much of the description on the Soho Theatre’s website, with many promised topics never materialising in the show. 

Dave Hill: Caveman in a Spaceship is an absurd and fun hour of comedy with some fantastic music. It’s silly and doesn’t take itself seriously, which is a lovely thing to see. 

Dave Hill: Caveman in a Spaceship ran from 15 to 18 May at Soho Theatre.