Adam Hills MBE
Hills in 2008 at the Paralympic Village
Birth name	Adam Christopher Hills[1]
Born	(1970-07-10)10 July 1970 (age 54) Loftus, Sydney, Australia
Medium	Television, radio
Years active	1989–present
Genres	Social satire, observational comedy
Subject(s)	Everyday life, current events, disability
Spouse	Ali McGregor ​ (m. 2009)​
Children	2
Notable works and roles	Spicks and Specks (2005–2011, 2018–present) Adam Hills Tonight (2011–2013) The Last Leg (2012–present)
Website	adamhills.com.au

Adam Christopher Hills (born 10 July 1970) is an Australian comedian, radio and television presenter. In Australia, he hosted the music quiz showSpicks and Specks from 2005 to 2011, and again in 2021 onwards,^[2] and the talk showAdam Hills Tonight from 2011 to 2013. In the United Kingdom, he has hosted the talk showThe Last Leg since 2012. He has been nominated for anEdinburgh Comedy Award, theGold Logie Award and numerousBAFTA TV Awards.

Born inLoftus, Sydney, he began performing as a stand-up comedian in 1989 at the age of 19 and, since 1997, has produced ten solo shows which have toured internationally. He has performed at theEdinburgh Festival Fringe, theMelbourne International Comedy Festival and the MontrealJust for Laughs festival, earning three consecutive Edinburgh Award nominations for his Edinburgh shows in 2001, 2002 and 2003.

In 2002, he scored a minor hit in Australia with his single "Working Class Anthem", in which he sang the lyrics of theAustralian National Anthem to the tune of "Working Class Man", a song by Scottish-born Australian rockerJimmy Barnes.

Hills was born in the southern Sydney suburb ofLoftus.^[3] Hills was born without a right foot and wears aprosthesis, which has become a frequent source of comedy in his act.^[4] He studied for a Bachelor of Arts (Communications) atMacquarie University, graduating in 1991.^[5] The university awarded their 2018 Alumni Award to Hills.^[6]

In December 2009, Hills married operasopranoAli McGregor.^[7] They have two daughters and lived in London until just prior to theCOVID-19 pandemic, when McGregor and their daughters moved back to her hometown of Melbourne, with Hills staying in London during filming periods ofThe Last Leg.^[8][9]

When researching his ancestry for theSBS television showWho Do You Think You Are?, broadcast on 2 April 2013, Hills found that several generations of his ancestors had been Germanburghers in what was thenSankt Sebastiansberg inAustrianBohemia (nowHora Svatého Šebestiána in theCzech Republic), with his great-grandfathernaturalising as an Australian citizen shortly after the start ofWorld War I.^[10] He also found that another ancestor who died in 1511 had been anotary inAragonese-SicilianMalta and had fundedcorsairs (pirates).^[10][11]

Hills is a supporter of his hometownrugby league club theSouth Sydney Rabbitohs.^[12]

In 2017, Hills helped set up theWarrington Wolves Physical Disabilityrugby league team. In August 2018, he played in their World Club Challenge vs theSouth Sydney Rabbitohs, winning 34–12.^[13][14] Hills was also a member of Australia's team for theinaugural PDRL World Cup, as well as a spokesperson for the event.^[15]

In February 2020, Hills became Ambassador forThe Children's Trust, a British charity for children with brain injury and neurodisability.^[16] He first became involved with The Children's Trust when he visited the charity in 2014 to meet Seb, a nine-year-old boy who had a severe brain injury and leg amputation following a road traffic collision.^[17] He has also supported five annual comedy shows at The Comedy Store for the charity.^[18]

In April 2020,Australia Post released a set of stamps recognising Australian Legends of Comedy,^[19] with Hills appearing on one of the stamps.^[20]

Hills was appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the2022 New Year Honours for services to Paralympic sport and disability awareness.^[21][22] He was grantedpermanent residency in the UK in 2022.^[23]

In 2023, Hills received an honoraryDoctor of Letters from theUniversity of Chester, for contributions to comedy and disability advocacy.^[24]

Guinness Record Holder for: The fastest time to put on five jumpers by a team is 34.43 seconds, achieved by Alex Brooker (UK), Adam Hills (Australia) and Josh Widdicombe (UK) on the New Year's Eve Special ofThe Last Leg (Channel 4) at Television Centre, London, UK, on 31 December 2023.^[25]

Hills first appearance in comedy scene was in 1989 at the Sydney Comedy Store. He did breakfast radio onSAFM in Adelaide, as well as stand-up gigs and, by the mid-1990s, he decided to focus on live comedy. His first solo show premiered in 1997 and was called "Stand Up and Deliver", taking its name from anAdam and the Ants song. He has travelled widely, performing at theEdinburgh Festival Fringe, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Montreal Just For Laughs festival.^[26] He has been nominated for three consecutive Edinburgh Comedy Awards for his 2001, 2002 and 2003 solo shows at the Edinburgh Fringe.^[27]

The title of his 2001 show, "Go You Big Red Fire Engine", was coined during a 1999 performance in Melbourne. Hills asked an audience member to yell his name to the audience and for the audience to yell it back, but instead the man yelled "Go you big red fire engine!"^[28] The phrase quickly became an audience chant, and Hills promised he would make it the name of his next show because, he says, "it was such an uplifting and genuinely silly moment."^[29] "Go You Big Red Fire Engine" later became the name of a second stand-up show and a comedy album. It also appeared in a Detroit newspaper, on a Swedish website, and was yelled by SenatorNatasha Stott Despoja in theAustralian Parliament.^[28]

Hills' artificial right foot is commonly used as a source of humour in his shows and the comedian has been known to remove it and pass it around. However, he had been performing live comedy for over a decade before he made reference to his prosthesis on stage, and it was only after "Go You Big Red Fire Engine" was nominated for a Perrier Award in 2001 that he began incorporating it into his act. Hills says he felt he could too easily have become a novelty act and that he "didn't want to be known as the one-legged comedian ... I wanted to prove myself as a comic before talking about this".^[30]

At his festival shows, Hills regularly performs alongside Leanne Beer, anAuslan sign interpreter, a move sparked by a performance he did inAdelaide at a disability art conference.^[31] An interpreter had been provided at the show, and Hills found that it not only allowed the deaf audience members to enjoy his material but was also an entertaining and fascinating experience for the hearing audience members. "Now I have hearing people who will only book [for sign interpreted shows]", he says.^[4]

Some of his influences includeChris Addison,Greg Fleet,Rich Hall,Daniel Kitson,Ross Noble andDavid O'Doherty.^[32]

Hills hosted the music trivia showSpicks and Specks from its premiere in 2005. In late-2007, he joined the show on a national live tour dubbed the "Spicks and Speck-tacular", with appearances in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Newcastle and Perth.^[33] In late 2011 and early 2012, the show hit the road again forSpicks and Speck-tacular – The Finale, appearing in Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Wollongong, Canberra, Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne. He has also made appearances on Australian shows:Rove Live,The Glass House andThe Fat, as well as the UK shows:Never Mind the Buzzcocks,Mock the Week,QI andAsk Rhod Gilbert.^[34][35] Additionally, he appeared on the first TV edition of BBC Northern Ireland'sGreat Unanswered Questions.^[36] He conducted backstage interviews at Australia's 2005 and 2006Logie Awards and was one of three presenters at the 2007 awards.^[37][38]

In September 2008, Hills co-hosted the ABC coverage of the2008 Summer Paralympics.^[39][40]

In July 2009, Hills appeared inThank God You're Here; he also appeared onGood News Week.

Hills presented his own weekly talk show,Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight, on the ABC from early-2011.^[41] In 2012 it was renamedAdam Hills Tonight and ended with its third-season finale on 31 July 2013.^[42]

In 2012, he was part of the UKChannel 4 TV commentary team for the London2012 Summer Paralympics,^[43] and hosted a daily alternative review of each day's events,The Last Leg with Adam Hills, withAlex Brooker and comedianJosh Widdicombe.^[44] The show was renamedThe Last Leg, and was adapted for a weekly schedule to cover a comedic wrap-up of the week's events.The Last Leg has since been renewed for multiple series each year, with the 300th episode airing in March 2023.

In 2013, Hills hosted the panel gameMonumental forBBC Northern Ireland. In August 2013, it was announced that Hills would present a special one-off revival episode of Channel 4's quiz show,Fifteen to One.^[45] This was broadcast on 20 September 2013, as part of the channel's 1980s-themedBack to the Future weekend of programmes.^[46] He was credited under the name "Adam C. Hills" in a tribute to the original presenter,William G. Stewart. In 2014, Hills returned to present four more celebrity specials; a full daytime series was hosted by Danish-born comedianSandi Toksvig.^[47]

In 2014, Hills co-starred inDie on Your Feet, an Australian TV series starring several real-life comedians as fictional comics at theMelbourne International Comedy Festival.

In 2016, Hills voiced Buddy Pendergast inThunderbirds Are Go.^[48]

In February 2022 he began hosting theSuper League coverage on Channel 4.

In 2002, Hills released a single titled "Working Class Anthem", in which he sang the lyrics of the Australian National Anthem, "Advance Australia Fair", to the tune of "Working Class Man", a famous song by iconic Australian rockerJimmy Barnes. Around 40 comedians contributed to the song, which made the independent top 10 in Australia. All proceeds went to theAustralasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council, an organisation supported by Barnes andJon Bon Jovi that supportsfirefighters. Hills has performed the song several times on television, including a performance honouring Barnes' guest appearance onSpicks and Specks.^[49]

Between 2003 and 2005, Hills wrote as a columnist for theBBC's disability websiteOuch!.^[50]

Hills published a memoir,Best Foot Forward, in 2018.^[51] His first book for children, "Rock Star Detectives", was published in February 2022. A second book in the series, titled "Murder at the Movies", was released in February 2023,^[52] and a third book is currently in the works.^[53]

In 2019,Adam Hills: Take His Legs was released, a sports documentary that follows the birth of theWarrington Wolvesphysical disability rugby league team from its creation, to the first PDRL World Club Challenge. In August 2023, a sequel documentary about theinaugural PDRL World Cup was released, titledAdam Hills: Grow Another Foot.^[54]

Also in 2023, Hills narrated and executive producedAmputating Alice, a documentary about the journey ofBritishParalympic swimmerAlice Tai, who competed in the2022 Commonwealth Games less than a year after having her right leg amputated.^[55]

In March 2023, Hills partnered withScott Hallsworth to open a permanent Freak Scene restaurant inParsons Green in London.^[56]

• Stand Up and Deliver (1997)
• Life Is Good (1998)
• My Own Little World (1999)
• Goody Two Shoes (2000)
• Go You Big Red Fire Engine (2001) – Perrier nominee
• Happy Feet (2002) – Perrier nominee
• Cut Loose (2003) – Perrier nominee
• Go You Big Red Fire Engine 2: Judgement Day (2004)
• Characterful (2006)
• Joymonger (2007)
• Inflatable (2009)
• Mess Around (2010)
• Adam Hills Stands Up Live (2012)
• Happyism (2013)
• Clown Heart (2015)^[57]
• Shoes Half Full (2021)

TheARIA Music Awards are a set of annual ceremonies presented byAustralian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of themusic of Australia. They commenced in 1987.

External videos
Adam Hills and his memoirBest Foot Forward onYouTube,Matter of Fact with Stan Grant,ABC News

• Adam Hills atBritish Comedy Guide
• Adam Hills onTwitter
• Adam Hills atIMDb
• Freak Scene Restaurants

• 1970 births
• Living people
• 20th-century Australian comedians
• 21st-century Australian comedians
• Adam Hills Tonight
• Australian game show hosts
• Australian male comedians
• Congenital amputees
• Television presenters with disabilities
• Australian people with disabilities
• Television personalities with disabilities
• Australian stand-up comedians
• Australian television talk show hosts
• Comedians from Sydney
• Helpmann Award winners
• Logie Award winners
• Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire
• Macquarie University alumni
• Australian emigrants to England

• Pages containing London Gazette template with parameter supp set to y
• All articles with dead external links
• Articles with dead external links from October 2010
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• EngvarB from April 2015
• Use dmy dates from April 2015
• Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia
• Articles containing German-language text
• Articles containing Czech-language text