Barry Hilton comedian, actor and a family man
While he visited Polokwane for the Cansa Limpopo Medieval evening, Review had the opportunity to get a quick interview backstage after the show.
POLOKWANE – For the past 30 years Barry Hilton has had South Africans in stitches with his witty humour.
“I am very blessed to not work, but play as this is not a job, it is fun for me. If I had to answer on how much money I make, I would have to give you my agent’s number as I am not in it for the money,” he says. Barry is a family man with a wife and six children. He lives in Cape Town, but travels far and wide for shows. In 2013 he was awarded the Comics Choice Lifetime Achiever Award and he became the first South African comedian to perform at the prestigious Harrah’s Improv at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, headlining four shows. In 2014 he opened the Hong Kong 2014 Comedy Festival followed by gigs in Singapore, Macau and Shanghai. Hilton is a corporate entertainer, motivational speaker and actor. He has starred in two movies, produced five stand-up comedy DVD’s, hosted TV talk shows and featured in several commercials.
He told us that he doesn’t really prepare before a show, but sometimes scenarios play out which he later uses in his show.
“I lost my mother and my brother to cancer. The week before my brother died he was in the hospice and he phoned me and asked me to visit him as the doctor did not give him long to live, so I told him he should commit fraud then the judge would give him seven years. As I ended the call, I had to walk up stage and give a show. I shared that joke with the crowd and about three people walked out, complaining I joked about cancer, but that was my way of dealing with the news and coping with the pain.”
He said one of the biggest challenges while travelling was to return to the empty hotel room where he was left alone with his thoughts and the pain of losing his loved ones.
