The Bosco Theatre is an apt venue for a guy like “Sam Simmons”:comic. The circus sideshow cum kid’s secret clubhouse feel of the tent is the perfect place to wander through his wild and twisted mind.
The show is based on the concept of boredom although this link is at times tenuous. Apart from an armchair presenting a lecture on the topic of boredom, this collection of segments featuring song, action, video footage and monologue were quite random but they were all classic Sam. The ideas didn’t always get a laugh and were often just too surreal for words, but they were definitely entertaining.
Lighting and audio played an important role in the show. Single bright spotlights enveloped Sam as he belted out strangely emotional songs and a large mirrorball lit up the space for no logical reason. A marching band rendition of the song “Crazy Train” set the mood for the evening and the kitschy backing tracks accompanied Sam’s hipster/lounge/cabaret vocals perfectly. A projector and screen got a thorough workout over the show’s duration displaying many random and hilariously strange images in rapid succession.
Sam Simmons tends to polarise audiences, some regard him as a brilliant renegade while others think he is too damn weird. It was difficult to gauge the proportion of each based on audience response because the show leapt from one idea to the next without enough pause for applause. Sam himself acknowledged this with the twisted advice at the show’s conclusion of recommending the show to your enemies, thus you both have a common hatred of Sam. He even offered the audience the choice of viewing a DVD instead of watching his weird show!
If you are on Sam’s wavelength and are prepared to go on roller-coaster ride of bizarre and often nonsensical segments, Sam will deliver by the truckload.
Sam is performing Tues to Sun through until the 29th of April. See the “Festival Site”:http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/season/2007/show/274/ for further information.