Charlie Hill, the only Native comedian to appear on the three major TV talk/variety shows, Jay Leno, David Letterman and Johnny Carson, with Buffy St. Marie taking a turn on the guitar, and Kieth Secola, sans his Wild Band of Indians. Photo by Peta Tinda

by Minnie Two Shoes

It was a busy year for Wisconsin Oneida comedian Charlie Hill. Aside from his usual gigs, Hill guest-starred at two high profile events and he’s working on a book. Recently he agreed to several appearances on a weekly music TV show, Rez Bluez, airing in 2005 on Canada’s APTN (Aboriginal People’s Television Network) and in 2006 on the Bravo channel stateside.  

In August, he headlined at the Washington, D.C., national conference of Unity: Journalists of Color, a coalition of individual associations for Native American, Hispanic, Asian and Black journalists. When interviewed in September, Hill was appearing at the festival celebrating the grand opening of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.  

The following free-ranging discussion took place in the hall outside a conference room at the ‘talent’ hotel. The room was packed with performers, their families, friends and a few, stray, Native paparazzi – stomp dancing away.

The dancing started poolside, was shut down by the hotel at 9 pm and moved to a room away from guests’ rooms where it went strong until midnight.

Hill said his upcoming gigs included spots at the Coushatta casino, LA; in Sisseton, SD; Berkley, CA and on the upstate New York Seneca Reservation. “Never did have a set schedule, just never did,” mused Hill, adding, “We’re (him and his agent) applying for a job every week – no heavy lifting, though.”

Since we’re talking about work, I ask if Native American casinos were providing work for Native performers. “As a whole, they should be bullwhipped,” he replied.

Too often the casinos only offer venues to Native entertainers during ‘Indian Week,’ he said. “Why can’t we play all year around? It’s our playground. I’m not just talking for me, I’m talking about all the Native performers – they should hire us.”

“The Jews have the ‘Borsht Belt’ and Blacks the ‘Chitlin Circuit,’” said Hill. “Why can’t we have our own route? Instead of bringing in Native performers once a year, the casinos could do that every month. There’s a few open to that, but not many.”

One of the biggest problems facing Native entertainers, said Hill, is many casinos hire non-Native booking agents. “They don’t know us – that’s why we should have our own bookers and agents,” he said.

Asked if he was a riot as a kid, Hill quoted famed comedian Steve Allen: “‘If you’re not funny by age twelve, you’re not a comedian.’”

Being funny isn’t all there is to being a comedian, said Hill. “You have to refine it. More importantly a stand-up learns to take rejection. There’s always some guy who comes up to you and says ‘my brother’s funnier than you’ – you have to be able to handle it.”

“Stand-up comedy is the hardest to do and the least respected of all the art forms,” said Hill. “You get the review right away. With a book, a play or a movie, you see later what the reviews are. With comedy you can tell right away if you’ve reached your audience.”

As a youth Hill said he saw Vine Deloria on the Dick Cavett TV show and was inspired. “Vine was both biting and funny, and it crystallized for me what I wanted to do,” he said.

Writing comedy in his early days, Hill said he’d put it on a tape recorder and play it back, but he didn’t have the experience to get into the background issues that motivates comedy. Now he strives to provide a frame of reference for his audiences – especially the non-Native ones. “I try to get people to laugh with us, not at us.”

In 2004 a big hit was NBC’s Last Comic Standing which showcased new talent with the winning comedian selected by viewer vote. Asked if he’d try out for the show, Hill said no, but he was glad to see a major network provide a venue for comedians because there aren’t many.

Although Last Comic Standing was fun to watch, said Hill, “I saw some guys that started in the comedy business before me – that’s scary because they never went anywhere. At least they’re getting work on the show.”

One of the few Natives who’s done extensive work in TV, both as a writer (for the ’90s megahit Roseanne) and as a performer, Hill said he was on CBS’s Letterman show last January (04). “There’s only been five other comedians on that show in the nine months since,” said Hill.

Making it in his business means one thing, said Hill. He lucked out and high-tailed it to Hollywood early on. “If you want to do something, you’ve got to go there to where they do it the best,” he said. “You can be the best mime in the world and live in Oklahoma, but you’re never going to get anywhere there as a mime.”

Hill said Native performers today owe a big debt to Buffy St. Marie, Paul Ortega and Floyd Westerman. “They opened the doors for us – Paul with his Indian chants and the blues, Floyd with his folk singing, country music thing, Buffy for her music and the Oscar for best song,” said Hill. Not only did they lead the way for today’s entertainers; they were at the forefront of the Red Power Movement of the ’70s, he said. “Historically, activism is started by performers and artists.”

With that, by mutual agreement, the interview ended. Besides, Keith Secola and his band, including the recently returned Monty Sinqua, were lurking nearby. They are ready to jam, but the stomp dancing went on. Buffy comes down the hall and she wants to jam, too. We adjourn to someone’s room.  

Charlie plays his harmonica, as Buffy hums, sings, and beats out a rhythm on anything handy. Keith sings and strums a guitar as Cochise Anderson joins in with his flute. We’re on a balcony overlooking a parking lot as they make beautiful music under the dim-but-still-there stars of the city.

FMI: Hill: clubredwithcharliehill.com; Rez Bluez TV: mbomberry@sympatico.ca; St. Marie: creative-native.com;

Ortega: canyonrecords.com;

Westerman: sadheartfilm@aol.com;

Secola: secola.com; and Ulali: ulali.com.