It is always a thrill to see a talented comedian promoted from the First Division into the Premiership. This is clearly happening to Adam Hills. Last year, this relentlessly cheery Australian's ascent was acknowledged by a Perrier nomination. This year's show, Happy Feet, is leaps and bounds better.
The title has two meanings. Initially it is a reference to the escapist Thirties show-tunes written to take people's minds off depression and imminent war. Hills wonders whether we are on that brink again before reflecting on his 11 September-related experiences. He was waiting for a flight when the tragedy happened. A few months later he was on an aeroplane when someone announced there was a bomb on board. The vivid anecdotes are both chilling and hilarious.
Happy Feet is also a nod to Hills being born with one foot. His second half considers the drawbacks of having titanium toes - mainly being unable to wear flip flops. This section is more intimate than his previous work and lifts him to a higher level. At heart, Hills is a simple stand-up. He also talks about texting and sex, and cracks Gladiator gags that should have been given the thumbs-down ages ago. But he is so life-affirming that everyone leaves with a spring in their step.
It pains me to put the boot into Chris Addison but no-frills Hills knocks the spots off this likeable lad. Addison is a trifle too pleased with his Bronowski-meets-stand-up lecture about evolution, The Ape That Got Lucky. He has a nice suit, a nice backdrop and some nice ideas about human nature and anality. He is obsessive-compulsive, but prefers to call it compulsive-obsessive because that puts it in alphabetical order.
Addison has an easy rapport with his audience and the pace never sags, despite some irritating digressions, but somehow the parts fail to click.
One of his factoids is that humans are genetically only two per cent different from apes, but that two per cent makes an awfully big difference.
Addison is probably only two per cent less funny than Hills. But that is the difference between thriving and merely surviving in Edinburgh's comedy jungle.
? Hills is at the Pleasance Cabaret and Addison at the Pleasance Cavern - both until 26 August. Box office: 0131 556 6550.
