SAM SIMMONS ABOUT THE WEATHER

SAM SIMMONS

About The Weather

The Deluxe

Garden of Unearthly Delights

8:30pm til March 18

There is a pay-off to a running reference to an Ikea coffee table in this show which is far and away one of the funniest things I have ever seen somebody do on a stage. In some ways it is the perfect Sam Simmons joke. It's ridiculous, it's big, it's over the top, it's silly, some people won't get it and it's hilariously funny. Obviously I'm not going to tell you what it is. Simmons audience these days is not always going to 'get' what it is he does. A lot of the people in tonight only know him from Triple J and many are not prepared for this level of existential humour. It's not regular stand-up, which is precisely why I love it so much.

About The Weather sees Sam as a lonely man living with his cat Mr Meowgi and a garden gnome he doesn't get on with. A man who is out of sync with his bullshitting workmates who falls in love with a girl he see on his bus to work every day. His frustration out of not being able to make anything of his life (even an IKEA coffee table) leaves him frustrated and angry and very very funny. His story is told, and often controlled by, The Narrator. It's a device Simmons has used before to great effect but tonight I am reminded of the classic Warner Brothers cartoon Duck Amuck where Daffy is at the mercy of the unseen cartoon artist. There is great use of cheesy music (Regulate by Warren G anyone?), a great knowledge of 90's TV commercials, some very funny audience participation plus you get to throw shoes at him at one point.

One of my favourite shows of 2012 - no question.

Ian Bell