Sam Simmons: Not a People Person at Underbelly

Where many comedians might spend the final moments before a performance in nervous dressing room isolation, Sam Simmons has tonight elected to while away this time in the auditorium, dressed in an usher’s uniform, berating latecomers and offering piggyback rides to the upper rows.

The experienced Aussie comic has every right to be relaxed. After he scooped the main prize at both the Melbourne and Edinburgh comedy festivals with his 2015 show Spaghetti for Breakfast, interest in this year’s effort – Not a People Person – is assured. Further, the wonders that spring from his refreshingly unique comedy brain and onto the stage at the Underbelly’s Potterow this evening prove that he remains a man at the very top of his game.    

Simmons describes himself as the “coriander of comedy” on account of “being best in a mix”. This is absolutely what’s on offer in the show with which he triumphantly returns to the festival that bestowed on him perhaps his greatest honour this time last year.

Zany and energetic physical comedy – including the utilisation of a pair of marsupial claws for menial tasks, and revelling in the unbridled delight of catching a dropped coffee cup with one’s foot – ensure that there’s never a visually boring moment. Innovative interactions with pre-recorded voiceovers and music guarantee pace, even when (hilariously) the cue is missed on occasion.

Though brilliant, such devices simply serve as gilding for the main event: Simmons’ captivating line in whimsically genius surrealist observation. With such confidence in his material that he is able to look individual members of the audience directly in the eye as he delivers them, he reels off punch lines so thick and fast so as to make the gig feel like one long, joyous laugh. Once again Sam Simmons is the hottest ticket in town.    

Stuart Boyland

Sam Simmons: Not a People Person is at Underbelly from 13^th until 28^th August 2016, for further information or to book visit here.

Watch a clip from Sam Simmons’ previous show Fail here: