I know I said this is a music blog, but thought you may want to read my article on Barry Hilton. I interviewed him on 8 July 2011. What an inspirational man.
“If everybody, everyday gave somebody something, everybody’s life would be just a little bit better.”
This is a quote from South Africa’s biggest selling comedian, Mr. Barry Hilton aka the Cousin. I met up with Barry on Friday the 8th of July 2011 when he was visiting the KwaZulu Natal South Coast and performing to a sold out crowd at the Mallards Ski Boat Festival. Down to earth, charming and of course, funny, there is much more to this man then meets the eye.
Barry Hilton has been performing as a professional comedian since 1983, and he says it should have been longer. Unfortunately his father did not back up his dream of initially being an Actor and then choosing Comedy, so Barry became an electrician, but that was never going to be good enough and thankfully, Barry Hilton the comedian was born!
From side splitting jokes, to the memorable Savanna adverts, Barry is one of a kind, and he always knew he would be. I asked him why he chose to become a comedian and his exact answer was, “Need; the absolute need to be somebody and something special. He would never settle for being average. And there is nothing average about Barry Hilton.
There is a serious side to the man we love to laugh at, and like most, he has suffered his fair share of heart break and heart ache. From losing his business and nearly everything he owned, to being lonely on the road, Barry has been through it all.
Two years ago he suffered the heartbreaking loss of his brother, Alan, who passed away from cancer. We all have our coping mechanisms and his is laughing. A week before the Alan passed away, he received a phone call from Alan saying that he better go see him at Hospice, he was going to die soon. Barry hung up the phone and was called onto stage 2 minutes later.
“How do you just switch off?” I asked him. He told me you just had to, it was a job and people wanted to laugh. At the end of his 75 minute gig, Barry told the audience, with tears in his eyes about Alan, he told the crowd how his advice to Alan, was that he should commit fraud, the Judge would give him 9 years. A joke he still uses today.
And that’s what he has done. He has a passion for people and making them laugh and he is the best at it, but like every human being, he suffers from self doubt. Barry Hilton has never won a Comedy Award! How that is possible I can’t tell you, but it eats him up, and I can understand that, we all want recognition. However one day when walking through a mall in Johannesburg, it took him an hour to get from the store to his car, with constant bombarding from people wanting his autograph and photographs, his wife and the love of his life (in his words), Sandy Hilton turned to him and said, “And you want an award?”
These people are his award, to stand in front of a crowd of 4800 people and have them all laugh at your jokes is an amazing feat and he knows that. Not in an arrogant way, but he knows he is good at what he does, but he is passionate about it. Every day he realises just how grateful he is to be loved by so many people, and how amazing it is to have your dream come true. “Hard work and learning to face rejection and criticism are paramount if you want to succeed.” Advice I think we could all do good to learn.
This man is compassionate to the bone, and when a sales lady approached our table selling flowers, Barry was quick to reassure her that if you persevere in life, no matter how hard the road gets, it will be worth it in the end.
The hardest part of his life is the loneliness, it is something you never get used to says Barry. A hotel room is great for the first few years but nothing compares to home. Although he was quick to reassure me that if that is the worst of his complaints then he has no complaints.
Barry is heading to New Zealand and Australia in August and London and Dubai in September. Although he has performed in Australia before, he has never performed in New Zealand and he is very excited for the new experience.
His new DVD, Serial Comic has just been released and he says this is his favourite performance so far. He walked on stage and nailed it from start to end. The DVD can be bought from any Look and Listen Store and should be available at Musica soon.
We also have a new Savanna advert to look forward to. He wouldn’t give away the punch line but we all know it’s going to be a good one, although the Monkey stole my Savanna is a hard one to beat.
Barry Hilton, it was an honour and pleasure interviewing you. You are truly South Africa’s greatest comedian, and truly one of South Africa’s greatest people.
Tickets for the Australia and New Zealand shows can be booked at the following websites;
http://www.ticketek.com.au/ (Perth)
http://www.eventix.com.au/ (All other OZ)
http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/ (All NZ)
Written by Angi Baleta
