Sam Simmons – Be A Verb | Adelaide Fringe 2022 review

Beneath the wildly goofy veneer and dorky dad energy, there’s a vulnerability that makes Simmons an incredibly enigmatic performer.

Sam Simmons: Be A Verb.

Sam Simmons – Be A Verb

Comedy

Rating: *****

The Box at The Garden of Unearthly Delights

Until March 20

There are two types of people at a Sam Simmons show.

There are the uninitiated newcomers, sitting silently, confused, and perhaps a little bit afraid. And then there are the long-time fans, who spend the entirety of the set doubled over in hysterics with tears of laughter in their eyes.

The latter showed up in droves to see Simmons deliver his signature brand of macabre yet oddly upbeat humour.

Ogling the crowd in a striped nightgown with socks and sandals, the seasoned Fringe performer rattles off a nonsensical tale about stolen yoghurt to a paper plate on a stick at a level of fervent mayhem that is peak Sam Simmons.

It’s been a tough couple of years for the Adelaide-born comic, having emerged from two stints in hospital battling clinical depression and suicidal ideation.

He doesn’t shy away from addressing this, and while he does so rather self-deprecatingly, he delivers it with a gentle reminder to look out for your “flends”.

That’s the thing about Sam Simmons – beneath the wildly goofy veneer there’s a vulnerability that, when combined with his dorky dad energy, makes him an incredibly enigmatic performer.

Yes, there’s some edgy content here that might cause offence, but Simmons’ shrewd view on the state of the world is considered, and most of it is pretty accurate.

If you’re a fan, you’ll enjoy another glimpse into Sam’s wacky world, where nothing means anything, but everything is true. If you’re not, switch your brain off and bask in the bedlam.