PhilvanHest.Com

This guy is from the Winnipeg Sun, 2008 Four 1/2 Stars.

If Phil van Hest were to start a religion, I'd be the first in line for baptism. He speaks the truth about how intelligence is soon to be a thing of the past and how common sense will follow behind — having also been absorbed by complete ignorance.
The world is getting dumber at an alarming rate and van Hest poignantly describes how this is happening while we aren't even aware of it.
He accurately describes his play as being designed "to entertain the enlightened and enrage the ignorant" — which isn't to say it is a highbrow comedy.
He hysterically points out the ignorance of the world, and by the end, you will have decided whether you are one of the enlightened or helping to cause the downfall of society.

UMFM, Winnipeg 2008

Phil the Void is the second instalment of Sound and Fury alumni Phil van Hest's stand up comedy routine. The comedic style is, dare I say it, more intellectual than that of Sound and Fury. Dressed in ragged jeans and a full beard with a twinkle in his eye, van Hest looks like some counter culture guru or mad scientist. Van Hest hits all his targets, among them politics, religion, Internet pornography and the dumbing down of America, with an keen observational eye and imaginative wit. The result is a very funny, often hilarious hour of comedy. Uniquely, van Hest also provides a couple of what he calls downers- observations that make you wince and paradoxically add to the comedy. I'm not usually a fan of stand-up comedy, but this show is certainly an exception which I heartily recommend that you see.

What tour is complete without the CBC? Four Spades! That makes four spades, four flowers and a Roger Moore. 2008.

Now if Phil Van Hest would only audition for Last Comic Standing, network comedy television would suddenly get a lot more interesting.
Looking part mad scientist and part bushy-bearded indie rocker, with a little evangelist thrown in for balance, Van Hest's hour-long, one-man show riffs on everything from our inability to communicate, to the dying art of critical thinking, porn, religion and, of course, gnomes. His musings left the audience laughing out loud. The only downside: because the show feels partly prepared and partly off the cuff, some transitions are a little rough.
Phil the Void: Comedy Over Quality is like dropping in on a house party where Van Hest is holding court in the kitchen, sucking in partygoers with his lively, intense storytelling. At one point he says his mission is to, "entertain the enlightened and enrage the ignorant." But at Friday's packed show, he was definitely preaching to the converted.
And looking around at an audience full of other Fringe performers, you can't get a better recommendation than that.

"Stand-up at its inspired best, comedy that refuses to give in to the twisted times we live in. At last, a comedian who actually assumes the audience is intelligent enough to get that God is a sense of humor. Makes you feel a little less lonely as you laugh yourself off your seat. VanHest, who was formerly one-third of the sketch team Sound & Fury, has returned to the Fringe in a new incarnation that’s hilarious, subversive and very, very smart. In other words, he hits it out of the park. If you’ve begun to fear most stand-up seems like it’s been punched out of some permanently post-adolescent purgatory, this is the show you’ve been needing. Don’t miss it. "

This one-man show is too smart and uses too many four-syllable words.
I'm kidding, of course.
Those "criticisms" are part of Phil van Hest's standup routine -- so you'll have to go to one of his three remaining Fringe shows to hear the punchline.
Unless he ends up dropping the joke from his one-hour set -- and I wouldn't put it past the Los Angeles comedian.
He's a bit of a meanie, making fun of gnomes, and drinking beer after beer onstage while his audience is forced to make do with their lukewarm bottles of water.
You'll need to stock up on liquids -- your throat will be dry from chuckling so much.
(Though I'm not sure you're actually allowed to bring any beverages into the Yardbird Suite.)
Van Hest skewers the usual subjects -- traffic, pornography, racial differences, religious bumper stickers, lesbian poetry, Jesus camps -- but he approaches them with fresh eyes and a serrated tongue.
Oh, and a few four-syllable words.

I Hit "Top Pick" fro the Edmonton Sun again, kids. Two years running. Hot. Shit. Four Stars. 2007.

"You may remember Phil van Hest from last year's Fringe. His newest "Phil the Void" act is a sequel to last year's, if you can make a real sequel to a stand-up comedy act.
But just as you can expect an endless number of one-man shows to centre around the "coming out of the closet plot line", Fringe audiences are realizing "Phil the Void" is becoming one of the most reliable attractions at the festival. What sets van Hest apart from his comic brethren is, he presents his act with such an easy-going rapport, it feels like you're sitting across from him at a beer-stained pub table.
Drawing equally from a well of pent-up anger and a six pack of beer, van Hest lets loose his torrent of well-articulated observations, ranging from the always crowd pleasing subjects of Internet porn and the religious Rapture.
A worthy contender for the crown of "most pissed off, yet hilarious comic", previously worn by the likes of Bill Hicks and David Cross, van Hest is probably one of the sharpest acts at the Fringe. As he draws blood, you'll laugh and grimace and ask for more. His act centres around the "ignorance is bliss" theme bogging down North America in a sea of stupidity and idiotic signs, such as "slippery when wet."
As pissed as he gets (upset and a bit tipsy) on stage, van Hest doesn't make you think he's the type who goes home late at night and harbours death wish grudges. No, chances are he writes them down after being inspired by late-night Denny's diners and works his rants into bits that delight the audience and vent his rage. Homosexual Jesus bumper stickers, the art of talking like a moron (thanks Laguna Beach!) and driving in his native Los Angeles all make it into his "Phil the Void" act. Van Hest pulls no punches, but you'll leave aching with laughter and your eyes will be a bit more open to all the moronic tendencies prevalent in society today. If you're lucky, you'll also be witness to his Straight Faced Lesbian Poetry reading contest - so genius it could be its own act"

"Lurking beneath one of the sharpest standup acts I've ever seen is a bracing commentary rich in politics, science and philosophy. San Francisco's Phil van Hest [obviously I couldn't really be from LA with this material] mixes political correctness with the poli tically correct [?] and amazingly never destroys the universe. Neat Trick"

Above is my first five star review. Below is my first Four Star review from the Vue Weekly. Interestingly enough, the guy who wrote this liked it/me so much he gave me a place to stay. (Hi Scott!)

"I have no clue how to accurately describe this show - but I laughed my ass off and learned about quantum physics. A mix of a Vegas stand-up comedian, gender studies major, Chomsky scholar and string theorist on acid, Phil van Hest lectures on the importance of vibrations to water (and us), expounds on theories of time's subjective nature as a means to bridge the pain/humour divide, delves into religion and politics, and discovers simple truths climbing in Yosemite National Park with a man named Florida, all in sometimes-dead-pan-sometimes-rapid-fire delivery that will make your sides ache. Trust me."

This one earned me an "A" from Uptown Magazine in Winnipeg. Whatever the fuck that is. Let's call it FIVE STARS!

"Bill Hicks lives! Hes just living in the body of L.A. comedian Phil van Hest. Delivering the same make-you-think counterculture comedy that Hicks was so good at, van Hest produces big laughs and mind-blowing thoughts. Does he rip off the late comic legend? Hell no! While van Hest does rip on religion and speaks of positive energy, just as Hicks did, van Hest delivers with a less angry approach that's equally funny. Describing the pointlessness of marriage, how your brain is out to get you, and how Dick Cheney is a cyborg, van Hest's material ranks as some of the most original and funny standup out there. He did, however, almost lose the audience late in the show when he called 9/11 our generations JFK scandal. That was maybe a little too out there for this crowd."

"Any performer who refers to a vacuum in their title -- daring critics to exclaim "it sucks!" -- deserves props for bravery. Or maybe not, since L.A. comic Phil van Hest knows he's preaching to the choir when he brings his Bush-bashing monologue before a Canadian audience. It doesn't matter though, because the show definitely does not "suck". It's little more than stand-up, but it's stand-up for smart people, and it's funny. Fringe-goers seeking such bells and whistles as sets, characters and a story will be disappointed. Everyone else will marvel at how van Hest's wit snakes through topics as small as Trojan condoms and as weighty as black holes. If Seinfeld was about nothing, then Phil is the anti-Jerry: his show is about everything. This is the best kind of observational humour; it skips jokes about airline food and zeroes in on the absurdity, hypocracy and lies that surround us. And despite the cynicism and occasional vitriol, van Hest is too likable to come off as a crank. He's more like an impish cross between Bill Hicks and David Cross. He'll make you laugh at the evolutionary hole we're digging, and prompt such whispers as the one I heard from the woman behind me: 'It's so true!'."