Sam Simmons’ greatest fan thinks he has a touch of the ‘forever alone’ about him, and I think she may be onto something.
When you’re watching the man smash tacos against his naked chest in a packed Inner West theatre, or asking young ladies in the front row to cup his balls, you can almost hear his mother whispering, “I just want you to find a nice girl and settle down”.
But maybe that’s the point.
His latest show, The Precise History of Things, is your typical Simmons mix of physical humour, pop culture references that vary from obscure to dated to spot-on – “And suddenly RYAN MALONEY, that guy who played TOADFISH on NEIGHBOURS, shows up and SAVES THE DAY” – and pithy observations about his own unpopularity.
The catch with the ‘no one likes me’ routine, though, is that when it’s true, it’s just awkward. And so it was that on the night I attended, Simmons spent much of his allotted hour railing against the audience for not laughing hard enough.
That’s the thing about Sam Simmons: if you walk into the theatre expecting brilliance, you’ll get it. Simmons does ‘absurdist suburbia’ exceptionally well, and this show hits plenty of high notes.
But he has no time for non-believers – so if, like me, you walk in doubtful but ready to be convinced, you may walk out disappointed. And with an inexplicable craving for corn chips.
Until Nov 12, Factory Theatre, 105 Victoria Rd, Enmore, $28-32.50, 9550 3666, factorytheatre.com.au
