Taiwanese-Canadian comic Ed Hill returns to Alaska for a pair of shows in Wasilla and Anchorage

Ed Hill, whose Amazon and Apple TV special ‘Candy & Smiley’ was listed among the top 15 comedy specials of 2021, is coming to Alaska this week.

Born in Taiwan, Hill emigrated to Vancouver, B.C. with his family in 1994. The title of his special, which is told while sitting in a socially distant circle of friends and family, refers to the names his parents adopted when they moved to Canada and were free to invent totally new, Westernized names.

Forced into the unusual setting for a comedy special by the pandemic, the circle actually works quite well with Hill’s style, which focuses heavily on family, and knowing where you come from.

“Two weeks before taping, everything locked down. It was very disappointing, but we kind of went back to the drawing board and asked what can I do with the restrictions,” Hill said. “We had to capture it in a way that would make sense and this story circle worked. It was definitely daunting — it was not something I wanted to do. These people all know parts of you. But my main material is personal anyway, so it’s not a big shock in that sense, but it’s definitely something you have to sit down to do. You have to deliver it in a conversation circle rather than performing it. You can’t be a performer; you have to be you. If there were a moment when you started performing, it would be so awkward.”

The critical acclaim was better than anything he could have hoped for.

“I’m very thankful that people enjoyed it,” Hill said. “To be honest, I wasn’t expecting anything. I just really wanted to watch something that would capture the moment of time we’re all in; to get that feeling of intimacy.”

Hill’s visit, which will include shows at Koot’s in Anchorage on Feb. 26, a night after he plays Everett’s in Wasilla, will be his second after performing here in 2019.

“My style is very introspective. I kind of try to go inward and discover material — I’m not a political comic, not a shock comic; it’s very personal,” Hill said. “My last show was mainly about my upbringing and this one moves into the whole realm of relationships about female figures in my life.”

Hill said that this tour that includes Alaska stops will conclude with a recording of a new streaming special.

“It’s an honest discussion about strength, fragility and the idea of love — what does it mean?” Hill described.

Hill got his start in comedy while he was in graduate school, after he took a class on the subject and realized it was a better fit for him than his gigs as a DJ that occupied too much of his nights.

He said his father, a retired surgeon, was never particularly supportive of his son’s comedic pursuits.

“My dad wanted me to be a doctor — my brother’s a doctor — but when I was 17 I told my dad straight to his face (that I didn’t want that),” Hill said. “The only time (my parents) came to a show was a taping of the special and they appear at the end of the show. My dad’s first question was, ‘where’s my contract?’”

Little by little, Hill thinks he’s worn down his parent’s disapproval of his career choice.

“I think they’ve come to some form of acceptance that it’s no longer just a hobby. I do sense some levels of pride in them now. They share some of my stuff with their friends and talk about it with each other. I’m never gonna get a verbal response, so that’s going to be all.”

On his way up the comedy ladder, Hill was mentored by the legendary Louie Anderson, who died last month at the age of 68.

“He mentored me throughout my career; he was like a father to me,” Hill said. “It’s him who told me to focus on my family — who I am, talk about you and your family, your relationship. People can relate to that no matter where they’re from.”

In an era where comedians, who could once say just about anything they want on stage and get away with it, are now subject to punishment from changing social sensitivities, Hill finds himself largely inoculated by focusing so much on his personal stories, but he is still quite aware of the ongoing debate.

“I can’t speak for other comics; all I can speak for is myself, but I had an incident recently where someone messaged me and said ‘you said something about this other group and a lot of people can’t believe you said that.’ I said, ‘I understand where you’re coming from, but that story I told was 150 percent true and the only way to change that is to invent a time machine; I was literally describing what happened to me. There has to be some form of genuineness to it. If it’s genuine, everything else is secondary,” Hill said.