Typesafe conversion from List[Any] to a case class, via shapeless

ZeeingEvent.scala

case class ZeeingEvent(
  zid: String,
  kind: String,
  showId: String,
  show_name: Option[String],
  time: DateTime
) {
  require (kind == "StartedZeeing" || kind == "EndedZeeing")
}

object ZeeingEvent {
  implicit val iso = HListIso(ZeeingEvent.apply _, ZeeingEvent.unapply _)

  def fromList(l: List[Any]): ZeeingEvent = {
    def toHList[HL <: HList](
      implicit
      iso: HListIso[ZeeingEvent, HL],
      typeable: Typeable[HL]
    ): Option[HL] =
      l.cast[HL]

    toHList map {iso.fromHList} getOrElse {
      sys.error("couldn't parse list as zeeing event: " + l)
    }
  }
}