Ed Hill brings the laughs to Front Porch Improv on Oct. 8

 One of Hill's favorite comedians is the late Louie Anderson, his mentor who taught him to be authentic

ABOUT Ed Hill’s comedy, a Rochester reporter once said, “His comedy is far from dumb, but juvenile at the same time.” Hill tells me that quote sums up his comedy perfectly as his comedic style and an overall stand-up comedian.

Hill will perform here in Savannah at the Front Porch Improv on October 8.

Hill was born in Taipei City, Taiwan, but moved to Vancouver, British Columbia as a child. To pay for college, he worked as a nighttime DJ. Hill liked being on stage and decided to enroll in a stand-up class. The goal was to get a better understanding of stand-up and to become comfortable with the idea of performing comedy live. Hill has been performing as a stand-up comedian for thirteen years.

His first performance was in a basement in a coffee shop. He discovered he wasn’t funny, but he enjoyed the experience nonetheless. If the encounter wasn’t something Hill learned from, he wouldn’t have become the first comedian of Taiwanese-Canadian descent to have a one-hour comedy special with Comedy Dynamics. The special, taped in July 2020, was titled “Candy & Smiley,” named for his mother and father respectively. Hill sees the title as how he's a synthesized version of both of his parents. He considers this special to be one of his favorite shows that he’s done. One thing that made this show unique was that the audience was Hill’s family and friends: Everyone cried as this was an important and memorable moment for him. The show was filmed in a giant gymnasium in Vancouver.

Hill does many shows and said he doesn’t write things down to rehearse or practice for a show; instead, he comes up with a thought and comes up with creative ways to figure out what to say.

One of Hill's favorite comedians is the late Louie Anderson, his mentor who taught him to be authentic. Mike Birbiglia is another of Hill’s favorite comedians because he likes the amount of emotion he puts into his work. Hill also likes Jerrod Carmichael because he’s willing to talk about race in his comedy, and he likes Ramy Youssef because he is a Muslim and discusses his culture in his comedy.

Hill remarked that he would like to perform alongside anyone grateful and thankful.

Before the pandemic, Ed did a tour in Asia and performed in Taiwan, where he received a great reception. Although the crowd was young, they related to his content.

Hill's October 8 performance won't be his first time in Savannah: He performed at a comedy festival about nine years ago in northern Georgia. Hill wants people to take away what they want. He plans to tell people intimate stories of his life, and he wants everyone to laugh and enjoy themselves. The audience can expect Ed to be Ed—meaning that Hill will deliver his comedy in a way that is true to himself.

The idea of comedy is what keeps Hill performing. His dad taught him if he were to do something, do it fully. Comedy is his way of doing this. Hill can not only give himself fully, but he also gets to share himself fully.