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Camden Fringe
A fascinating and engaging tale of one man’s journey to travel, inspired by the Eurovision Song Contest. Both immensely engaging and educational, it is told with great passion and knowledge.Summary
Rating
Excellent
It has been a very long time since I last watched the Eurovision Song Contest, and I have not yet travelled across Europe anywhere near as much as I would like to. After hearing Billy Hicks share his fascinating tale of music-inspired travel and adventures in Everywhere That I Can, I am enthused to both start watching Eurovision again and plan more holidays.
Having limited knowledge of Eurovision and/or Europe itself is no barrier at all to enjoying Hicks tell of the adventures he has undertaken, with his goal to travel to every country that has ever taken part in the Contest, doing so on as tight a budget as possible. This is an entirely one man show and I was very curious about how Hicks would present his story.
The stage is dominated by a large screen which is used to showcase a presentation of maps and photographs that illustrate his journeys. Any fleeting thought that this show could take the form of a straightforward and serious traditional lecture are immediately blown away as Hicks enters dancing and singing along to one of the songs featured on Eurovision. Hicks is hugely engaging, entertaining and charismatic as he draws us into his story, with a lot more dancing, singing or lip-synching to previous Contest songs. There is also a small desk on stage with a globe, some travel guides and a laptop, which Hicks uses to represent the home where he planned out his travels, but he very rarely sits down.
Hicks opens by telling us about his admiration for Eurovision, how it inspired his goal to visit all the countries which have competed and the adventures this led to. He is extremely knowledgeable about the history of the Contest, including when different nations first participated, and reflects fondly on past acts. But he is just as passionate about the countries he has visited and shares a lot of good practical tips, such as how to manage affordable flights and how to judge the comparable cost of living. Hicks shares his joy, recollecting the great people he meets at hostels, the feeling of dread during encounters with misunderstanding border guards, and fond memories of the different sights in countries visited. He is full of knowledge of how geo-political situations influence travel plans, explaining how some countries have different rules for visitors depending on their country of origin, and how Covid and Brexit impacted upon access to travel and led to less favourable exchange rates.
Impressively, Hicks rarely pauses for breath, filling the entire hour with talking or singing. Whilst he has his own script to follow as he describes each stage of his travels, he is also quick to respond to the reactions of the audience, which adds a good personal touch. Hearing sounds of people being (very rightly) impressed by how quickly he had ticked off a good number of countries on the list, he casually comments that they were the easier ones to get to. Seeing confusion at Australia being included in the list of contestants, he pauses to agree.
This is an incredibly engaging and inspiring story about all that you can learn and experience during travels, masterfully told. Hicks closes with the reflection that one of the best aspects of travel is the people you meet, and the universal joy from feeling welcomed into another country. This is an increasingly important lesson the world should learn from.
Written and Produced by: Billy Hicks
Everywhere That I Can has completed its run at Camden Fringe.
