TEXAN comic Rich Hall brings his inimitable brand of humour to The Anvil in Basingstoke tomorrow.

The star of critically acclaimed BBC4 documentaries including Rich Hall’s Continental Drifters, Rich Hall’s The Dirty South and How The West Was Lost, is back touring the UK with his brand new live stand-up show Rich Hall – 3:10 to Humour.

Rich’s critically acclaimed grouchy, deadpan style has established him as a master of absurdist irony and the king of rapid-fire wit.

The award-winning Montana native is known for his expertly crafted tirades and quick fire banter with audiences and delightful musical sequences.

This is a comedian whose plain spoken growling indignation and acerbic observations have an unerring talent for hitting his targets every time, winning him fans all over the globe.

Perrier (Edinburgh Comedy Festival) Award and Barry (Melbourne International Comedy Festival) Award winner Hall has been described as a transatlantic messenger lampooning each country he visits with his common sense, and he is no less harsh to his homeland.

The US-born comedian, raised in North Carolina, says that what he is looking forward to on this tour is the experience of performing for you.

When he is on stage, there is no barrier between you and him, and both you and he derive pleasure from that.

Rich said: “What I love about stand-up is the immediacy. Having run the gamut of TV panel shows, after a while you know how to do them and they are not much fun any more.

“But now I know I’m going to be on stage somewhere like Melksham, and that prospect is exciting. For those two hours, no one is looking at their phones.

"It’s a true non-media event. Those sorts of occasions are rapidly disappearing, and that’s why I value them so much.”

A stand-up whose plain spoken, growling indignation and waspish observations have won him fans all over the world, Rich has been described as a transatlantic messenger lampooning each country he visits with his common sense comedy.

To prove the point, he is never less than harsh on his homeland.

His critically acclaimed grouchy deadpan style has established him as a master of absurdist irony and the king of rapid-fire wit.

The Montana resident is renowned for his expertly crafted tirades.

His biting, yet compelling comedy has helped earn him a Perrier Award in Edinburgh and a Barry in Melbourne.

He is a coruscating presence – both on and off stage.

The stand-up, who was the inspiration for the curmudgeonly barman Moe Szyslak in The Simpsons, says he gets a kick out of touring this country.

“I may have become overly familiar with the motorway service stations of the UK, but I like discovering new places.

"It’s important to visit out of the way towns because it gives you a new perspective.”

One of the many aspects that distinguishes Rich’s live act is the brilliant way he can craft delightful on-the-spot songs out of the smallest items of information that he gleans from the audience.

The comic, who won two Emmys for his work as a writer on The David Letterman Show, explains: “I do what Americans call ‘crowd work’.

"I really enjoy that because I can turn it into improvised songs, which is a big thrill for me. I always have a guitar beside me on stage in case something happens.

“If you told me I would have to listen to anyone – apart from Richard Pryor – on stage for two hours, I would think, ‘Oh God’. So it’s good to break up the show with musical interludes.”

Rich continues that he does not need a lot of material to work on. “It’s funny, the less I get from people, the more you can improvise.

"Nothing is out of bounds. I want them to tell me, ‘I’m a clerk,’ rather than, ‘I work for the council finance department and am involved in the end of year expenditure’.

"As soon as I hear the word ‘clerk’, my head immediately starts formulating rhymes for it.”

  • Contact The Anvil box office on 01256 844244.