Review: Sam Simmons, XS Malarkey, Manchester
The brilliantly bizarre Sam Simmons headlined at XS Malarkey this week, their last show of the year.
Simmon’s erratic surrealism ensured the club saw the end of 2014 out with perhaps not just a bang, but a spectacular firework of unexpected props, backing tracks and utterly fantastic routines.
The Australian comic delivered various inexplicably weird segments that, even for just a thirty minute set, are an absolute spectacle.
Simmons’ whole act is chaotic and quick-fire, with tiny skits in which he jumps off and on to a small piece of carpet to the jingle ‘carpet or floor’, or where his initial desperate mourning is suddenly supported by an evocative club beat.
He manages to glean the very positive reception of a totally bemused audience. Because even if he is simply bopping to the sound of his own voice bemoaning little girls who like horses or people who savour their coffee (‘this is my special me time’), not only is Simmons’ writing fantastic, his performance is hilarious.
Simmons’ sometimes brash persona cuts through his outlandish skits and routines, setting him apart completely from other comics peddling a similar surreal brand of comedy. He almost berates the audience into getting on board with his bizarre act; but ultimately has no qualms about making a point of just how bizarre it all is.
Rather than being enveloped in a world of his own making, Simmons acknowledges the eccentricity of his set. Often even he doesn’t seem to know what’s going on – though of course he does. And likewise, the audience were laughing across the board – whether or not they could pin down why.
Simmons closed with a very apt collection of Christmas carols, naturally sung to various Star Wars tunes; who knew Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer could be so utterly awesome, or Jingle Bells so sinister?
However outrageous, or seemingly (or genuinely) endless or unplanned his routines get, Simmons’ delivers a set that seems clear, concise and very cleverly zany.
A fabulous comedian offering up a ridiculous dish of ideas, Sam Simmons was the perfect headline act for a wildly off-kilter pre-Christmas spectacular.
Date of live review: Tuesday 9 December 2014
Pub/Zoo hosts XS Malarkey every Tuesday night. The next show, after the Christmas break, is on Tuesday 9 January with James Dowdeswell. More information about this and other upcoming shows can be found on their website.
