The king of surrealist stand-up, Sam Simmons, brings his incredible and irreverent style to the Udderbelly in
Simmons’s bat-shit crazy nature is hilariously endearing and the relationship he sets up with his audience from the outset means he can say or do no wrong.
His style is hard to pin down in type, but through twists and turns of breakneck originality, we see the Australian eating sun cream, talking to coconuts, singing about muesli bars and sending his nan into space with the audience never leaving his side. The setup of a man lost at sea for days and rapidly losing his mind provides the perfect framing for Simmons’s innermost thoughts and anxieties to come out. What is the best kind of nut and how many kinds are there? Why do people never take the top newspaper? How do you open up a coconut with your bare hands without falling into fits of coconut frustration? While remaining completely unanswered, the struggle of wrestling with such life-changing questions and the journey taken is fantastic.
The episodic show at no point slows or halts, the barrage of observations, songs and cut-outs flowing for the entire hour-long oceanic adventure. Simmons’s bat-shit crazy nature is hilariously endearing and the relationship he sets up with his audience from the outset means he can say or do no wrong.
With the use of voice-overs for the character’s conscience and impeccably well-timed appearances by stage hand Luke, Simmons’ patter is inexplicably comical. Every inch of this man is hilarious. With a bigger, bolder and more entertaining show than ever before, Sam Simmons is a Fringe favourite for a very, very good reason. This is one of the most inventive shows of the Fringe and deserves to be seen.
