Sam Simmons Rocks a bombshell
Presented by: Token Events
Reviewed: Saturday 17 March, 2024
“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” Hunter S. Thompson, Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas,1971.
Sam Simmons is a sensationally strange cat. Truthfully, his spirit animal very well could be the Devon Rex cat, which is known for being energetic, spirited, silly and entertaining. Undeniably though, Mr. Simmons has the delightful disposition of Hamilton the Hipster cat and his latest offering Man With A Fork In A World Full Of Soup had his audiences hissing with laughter, twitching with enthralled puzzlement and purring in frenzy from his wonderfully weird antics.
Without a doubt, when he gets weird, he turns pro.
Entering The Factory tent with an artificial bomb strapped to his chest the ever so fashionable socks and sandals combination, it was a very weird welcome and unquestionably attention grabbing. Sam was certainly pushing the envelope of morality, but just like his spirit animal cat breed, he was being superbly silly. His aspiration for the showcase was not to “bomb” – he is that perfectly “puntastic”.
The fantastic foolishness that toyed with the line of being ethical and “correct” was bedazzling, brilliant and baffling. From wearing a microwave on his head and singing a song about frozen lasagna (no matter what, it is true, the edges remain crunchy and cold, but the central inside is always of lava fieriness), meeting his wife by purposefully crashing into her car, his baldness looking like a women’s private parts during childbirth, the homeless and general toilet-going anecdotes were all joked about with superhuman speed and amazing astonishment. Incidentally, this was approximately Sam’s opening 10 minutes, and the spectators are never sure how much of his act is deliberate or improvised; regardless it is magically magnetic.
Mr. Simmons interacted with the crowd in exquisite fashion, whether it was spotting the very young audience members who were perhaps a bit too young to be attending this production, to talking to fellow bald men, making jokes about coeliacs, transgender community, vegetarians, racism, and irrational fears. This all sounds quite depraved, however the “puns” and “dad jokes” crafted from these interactions were so tremendously tacky, it was almost wholesome and awe-inspiring.
The truly charming distinction of Sam Simmons is his ability to poke fun at himself. He often goes on very weird tangents and loses his own way so much so that he apologises for it, but also revels in the awkwardness. He may take it a step too far at times; however, those times are the most memorable and weird.
Like a pro.
A sudden countdown overtook the loudspeakers and Sam exited the stage where a loud bang occurred, and a cloud of smoke dispersed towards the ceiling.
Then he re-appeared almost majestically, he hadn’t “bombed”. The sold-out venue of attendees wholehearted cheers and applause were the real explosion – there was plenty of soup for all.
Reviewed by Will Oakeshott
Venue: The Factory – The Garden of Unearthly Delights
Season: ended
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