Erin Davidson catches up with Sam Simmons in the lead up to his new show ‘Where Can I Win a Bear Around Here’
Your career has been varied to say the least. Where do you feel more at home – on radio, on stage, in front of a camera, or at the zoo and why?
The zoo, I really miss it, I’m 30 now and I can guarantee I’ll be back there by 35, I find the fickle pursuit of fame… well fickle. It’s chocka block full of wankers… zoo people are real. (To my comedy friends, I love you.)
...and tell us a bit about your upcoming TV project.
It’s set in 1987 within the animal documentary format, it’s Steve Irwin meets Alby Mangals on acid, it will cause problems.
If the title of your 2008 show ‘Where Can I Win a Bear Around Here’ isn’t any indication, what can the punters expect to see?
It’s about a man stuck at an ATM who has forgotten his PIN, he then has to crawl inside his own head in order to retrieve it, but the only way is to make room to remember it, therefore he has to rummage through old memories and throw them out to make room… confused… good.
After seeing ‘The Sex and Science of Boredom’ last year I wanted to race home and make myself a pair of bread shoes. For you, does life imitate art or does art imitate life when it comes to your shows? I mean, how weird does a day in the life of Sam Simmons actually get?
Not weird at all, it’s just how you look at stuff. I like to look at life on a skewed angle, I really don’t think it’s that odd.
If you came with a warning/disclaimer, what would that be?
Don’t touch that.
The blurb for your show claims that if we like bears, chances are we’ll like you. Please tell us at least three bear-like qualities you possess.
Both like walnuts, both shit in the woods, and both hate the circus.
When was the last time you laughed so much it hurt and what was it over?
Doing a very straight interview with Ronan Sharkey from JJJ’s Hack for JTV, I couldn’t look him in the eye for laughing so much. I had to stare at his ear for 15 minutes, while he earnestly talked about the “Issues.”
You have fast-tracked your way onto highly sought after timeslots on Triple J radio. What do you put this success down to?
I really don’t know, but it’s heaps of fun.
‘Sam Simmons – Where Can I Win a Bear Around Here’ runs from the 20th March – 13th April. For booking details click here