ll llodgson hates hullies. Whether it‘s in the real \kot'ld ol his home ton n ol~ ('hippenham or in the manul'aetured unnerse ol the eomed} eireuit; either \xa}. he ean't stand them. 'I hate it \\ hen a eomie pieks on someone \kho's gone tor a piss and hon
the}‘ll reall} get them \xhen the} eome haek. Well. do )ou \sant them to piss on the l'loor’.’ Yes. it ean he allllo} ing it a mohile phone goes oll hut as long as the} don‘t then ha\e a eomersation. so \xhat'.’ (‘learl_\'. some eomies \\ ere either thtllied or \\ ere hullies at seltool.‘
It‘s not too dil'l‘ieult to helie\e that \Vil llttdgstlll “as in it serap of [\Hi (ll sehool and he}ond. maehismo and lad mags. and a low ol ('are Hears. llarhie dolls. \srestling the \\as semi— pt'olessional tor a hit! and big “omen (in his last \ll(l\\, (iruu/ ll’i/ l/m/gwn. he insisted that he'd elimh o\er K}lie to get to l'iern Brittoni. .'\nd he harhours an al'l'eetion lior the old sehool skinheads. that ‘honourahle hreed ol‘ men'. in the dit}s helore the look “as hijaeked h} the lar right. 'l'hose sol‘l ol attitudes tend to attt'aet an unnanted t_\ pe ol attention.
'l‘oda}. we‘re in a Soho homer and llodgson has long sinee hlended into his surroundings. though a pair ol~ middle aged .-\tistralian tourists east some anxious glanees in our direetion. Maohe it‘s the pink mohiean and matehing l‘ingernails. When I ask about his |o\ e ol ohieets \x'hieh helong in a puheseent girl‘s hedroom. he eurtl} insists: ‘I just like them. I really just like them.’ Perhaps he's understandahl} siek and tired ol‘ having to justil'} his leisure tastes throughout his life l'rom disapprming peers and interl'ering ~journalists. Ma)he‘ it's similar to his response to people \\ ho enquire about his oeeupation. ‘\\'hen eah dri\'ers ask me what I do. I tell
12 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 3~ ‘ Q A“; 213'}
.\ lelt-\singer \xith a hatred ol'
In the singular world of Wil Hodgson, Barbie dolls and skinheads go together just fine. Brian Donaldson asks the man with the pink mohican what, exactly, makes him tick.
D WIL HUNTING
them I'm a I)! or something. It sou sa} stand tip people \\ill assume yin ha\e a plethora ol
.lttkes or an hour’s ohsenation “eh. I don't.
It's hard to deserihe to people \xhat _\ou are doing. l'd haxe a mind to eall it spoken \\oid perlormanee hut I‘d eertaml) ne\ei introduee m} sell to amone as a eomedian,‘
\Vhate\er il l\ llttdgsull tlt‘k'\. he tlUL‘\ ll speetaettlarl} \xell. .'\l'ter getting to the \ellll linal stage ol' the lilfl' \eu ('omed} .\\\ards lll :lllll he appeared as [‘ttl‘l Ul the x\llltl\ed .\loose llot Starlets in Still.z helore linall_\ getting his o\\ll lull shim. li/n' ’mmw u/ the Hot/emu the l‘olloumg Mun". 'l'he usuall} mild llol)rood ‘l‘a\ern. a eouple ol stone's throus axsa} lrom the l’leasanee huh. had ne\ er lelt a hit// like it \Vhen our re\ie\\er went along. he \\as asked on the door \xhether he \\as a l’errier iudge. \\l1ile ill the eroud llltll lllg‘lll. he sptilletl Steuart l.ee and .lenn_\ lxelair. .\'one ol \xhieh \\as some kind ol' elahorate stunt to loree a re\ie\\er into ehueking a high star rating at