Adelaide Fringe Review – Sam Simmons, A-K

Sam Simmons, A-K

Tuesday 14 March 2017

Words by Kendall Clarke

Multiple award-winning veteran of stand up comedy, Australia’s own Sam Simmons, has brought his unpredictable and surrealist humour back to the Adelaide Fringe stage.

The one-man show kicked off with him singing an aria (albeit badly), in front of an excited crowd who sat in anticipation of what was to follow…

With a collection of random stage props – among them two copies of the White Pages, a packet of Cruskits, badminton racquets and a can of Melbourne Bitter – his stage set was the perfect space for the joker to launch his rude, messy but rather marvellous humour.  Sam led the crowd through a comedic rabbit hole and each time we came up for a breath of air, Sam took us in another direction.

He enhanced each skit by selecting music from his iPad and then engaged with audience members in awkward yet hilarious ways, perhaps appealing to his own synaesthesia (the condition where music, for example, may trigger colours or tastes).  No one was safe in the crowd; some were brought up on stage to play badminton, or dance awkwardly with Sam while he ran his fingers through the moustache of another unsuspecting audience member.

With his well-known non-sequitur style of humour, Sam kept us entertained by hurling random abuse at the crowd, frequent references to Colonnades Shopping Centre, and drawing attention to when his jokes failed.

The performance wrapped up with Sam cleverly tying the show together, finishing off with a reverse of how the show started.
 

Pulling big laughs from the crowd, the show was utterly bizarre, dreadfully funny with uncompromising humour.  Once you’ve seen him, you simply can’t get enough of him!