Rich Hall
Rich Hall

With shows at the Edinburgh Fringe and TV appearances galore under his belt, Rich Hall was always going to be one of the hottest tickets at the Lichfield Festival.

The American comic is now a familiar face to British audiences thanks to TV appearances on the likes of Live at the Apollo and Channel 4’s Comedy Gala. As a result, some of his material will have been familiar to fans, but the intimate nature of the Garrick and his welcoming build up meant that his punchlines were just as effective as they were in the living room.

He’d clearly made an effort to try and understand his audience too. Mentioning the Lichfield Mercury a couple of times, he tailored much of his act to the city, and although he called it a town, the crowd didn’t seem to mind for the most part.

Not afraid to put himself out there, Hall involved the crowd from very early on, picking on three men in the front row who eventually found themselves part of his routine. Mixing his wit with musical talent he delivered a couple of hilarious songs along with his backing guitarist and singer, Rob. Regular references to his three front row participants, the American funnyman tied the show together well.

There were a couple of moments where the next laugh seemed to be a long time coming, but the crowd have to shoulder some of the blame for not being as responsive as they needed to be at a show that relied quite heavily on improvisation.

It would be wrong of me not to mention Rich Hall’s ability to make jokes – and songs – from three of the most mundane jobs he could have found; Civil Engineer, IT and Housing Options Manager.

Outside of the Lichfield humour, we were treated to a dissection of Britishness and a comparison with Americanisms that we can all identify with, as well as an hilarious rant on Kraft and the future of Cadbury’s.

Given a more lively crowd the show may have been livelier but even so it was hilarious and entertaining throughout and Rich Hall would certainly be welcomed back to Lichfield again.