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Written by Caroline Whitham
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 The everyday life of the My Little Pony collector is, as with so much in life, sadly overlooked by anthropologists and comedians alike. Wil Hodgson, however, who marches on stage, pink-mohicanned and disconcertingly West-Country-accented, devotes a good ten minutes to the finer points of collecting the multi-coloured toys.
It’s clear from the word go that Hodgson is an outsider, a dissident voice that steadfastly refuses either to fit in where he is or to find somewhere that he will fit in. He has continued to live in Chippenham, the small Wiltshire town of the show’s title, where his liberal views and pink hair must make him seem a real oddity, the target of constant attention and potential abuse. In fact, part of his act is devoted to a surprising encounter with one of the tattooed locals, a bruiser ex-con with whom he shared a preference for big girls over airbrushed glamour models, but from whom he had to escape quickly when the conversation turned to the typical tabloid fodder of paedophiles and speed cameras.
Hodgson might not always be outright funny, but his interesting take on life and eccentric attitude open a window to an unfamiliar world, and make him a comedian well worth catching.
- Wil Hodgson – Straight Outta Chippenham
- Pleasance
- August 5-27 (except 13)
- 10.40pm
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