SOPHISTICATED surrealist comedian Harry Hill is calling his latest tour and accompanying live video Birdstrike. As ever with Hill, on the surface it might not make immediate sense, but there is always logic at work.
"There's no real reason behind it. I had to come up with a name, and I was looking at this Look And Learn annual and there it was: Birdstrike!" says the Channel 4 comic, who will be peering out from behind his distinctive over-sized shirt collars at the Grand Opera House in York tonight.
What exactly is a Birdstrike? "I think it's when birds get sucked into a jet engine," says Hill, helpfully but without sounding cast-iron certain of his subject.
Harry promises jokes about birds and there will be a reprise of his Stars In Their Eyes celebrity turn as moaning Morrissey, the musical sound of Manchester rain. "I think you have to give the public what they want," he says, tongue contacting cheek. "Why Morrissey? I'm just a fan of his. I'll be singing a medley of his hits... and be assured, you can take him very seriously."
On the television show, Hill originally had wanted to do George Michael. "But they said I didn't sound anything like him," he recalls. Oh well, at least they didn't mention the contrasting looks!
"The funny thing is, the other day I bumped into the drummer from The Smiths, and he said I'd got Morrissey's jeans just right, which is a sort of back-handed compliment, I suppose."
Harry's Birdstrike video will be recorded at the Palace Theatre in London on October 29 for video release by PT Video on November 20, in good time for the Christmas market. Once the tour ends on December 2, he will turn his thoughts to his next television project. He is keeping an open mind about his future direction. "I've already made 25 TV shows, which is a lot, isn't it?" he says. "I'm not going to be able to think about it until the New Year but it will have to be something new.
"I could keep doing the Harry Hill shows as they are now but they do involve a hell of a lot of time and effort. It's lonely in that there aren't many shows like mine: old-fashioned comedy shows with a comedian doing big numbers. I've done that now, so I want to do something new."
How about rescuing that most surreal of London attractions, the Millennium Dome? "You could turn it upside down and serve soup out it for the homeless," suggests Harry, making more sense than the Lottery Commission with its endless handouts.
Harry Hill, Grand Opera House, York, tonight at 8pm. Tickets update: selling fast but still available at £16.50 on 01904 671818.
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