Simon Evans
Huntingdon Hall, Worcester – 1st May 2025
The movie the Madness of King George was so called because the director believed the audience would be more interested in a royal connection when shown in America. The more cynical critics also thought that Americans would not go to watch the film if they believed they had missed George I and George II. Ex- Royalist Simon Evans show “Have we Met? “is the final instalment of a triumvirate of comedy, for the more erudite…
The catalyst for the evening’s entertainment was a stolen copy of Tennyson’s poem Ulysses. Written in blank verse with no rhyming scheme the poem outlines the ponderings of the hero Ulysses deliberating over what went before and what is to come. The end result is the poetic musing of Evans and the life events of the last epoch forming an elegiac and celebratory two hours.
Accordingly, over two years or more the show has distilled and matured like a well-aged whiskey.
The last decade had been distilled down to life changing moments for Evans. The birth of his children and family home life was the catalyst for much mirth and merriment. The inclusion of a dog in the family that was culpable for causing deaths was beyond gallows humour. “Slut shaming,” his daughter’s friends whilst they were trapped in his car, was awkward, cringe worthy and very funny.
The rhythm of the night’s performance was frenetic to say the least. There was an urgency about the delivery that defied you not to listen. And the Huntingdon hall audience listened enraptured.
The Evans comedic-obituary of his characterful father-in-law’s demise was littered with asides about his herculean drinking. The scene laid bare about their first meeting caused much laughter and the punchline about adding more alcohol to an alcoholic drink to “add structure” will always stay with me. Like much of the show…
The comedian made one or two jokes at his own expense. Idly confessing, “he made a living telling lies” to strangers – “I can’t stand minorities either.”
The true reality of discovering his natural birth parents was sobering. Perhaps humour is the only therapy available to a comedian?. The stand-up appeared to have reached his own conclusions.
The denouement was a study in pathos, with Evans himself needing to steady himself when discussing the departure of his good friend Mike. Of course, the humour was threaded through the confessional but the visible impact on the stand-up added to the church-like silence in the room. The line…“we just didn’t know he had gay sex,” repeated from an earlier sketch triggered a volley of guffawing that did not drain any dignity from the paean to his mate’s endearing friendship. Much like a good malt whiskey, the final ten minutes really did “have legs.”
Simon Evans has turned his life’s surprises and sense of loss, his “Angel’s share,” into a show that had the Huntingdon Hall audience raising a thick-bottomed tumbler to a comedian who has been through momentous experiences. Yet is determined: “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
By: Swilgate Scuttler