Some people’s art evolves over time. If you’re waiting for Harry Hill’s to do so – curious, perhaps, to see what late-period Hill has in store – might I suggest you don’t hold your breath? The big-collared one is 60 now, and New Bits and Greatest Hits moves the dial not a jot on the formula that has, since the 1990s, made him one of our silliest and most joyful entertainers.
Perhaps you could identify a maturer sensibility in what passes for the theme of tonight’s nonsense, which anchors itself in a story about the death of Hill’s nan. But we’re some considerable distance from “trauma comedy”, as Hill uses the set-up mainly to justify loopy jokes about “bags for life” and his difficulty spelling nan’s name in flowers alongside the coffin.
