IRONICALLY for a man so well versed in economics, Evans is now demonstrating the law of diminishing returns.
Cards on the table, I was a fan despite his well-known political views and have seen him half-a-dozen times.
But never again.
Previously, GBNews host Evans has kept his politics largely out of his stand-up but now they are front and centre (well, right of centre) and this made for an uncomfortable hour.
I couldn’t quite decide if he was being tongue in cheek as he described his politics as “reactionary” and espoused enthusiasm for racist berks Enoch Powell and Tommy Robinson, and nor I suspect could a substantial portion of his audience.
I won’t say “crowd” because that would be inaccurate. Over the years I’ve seen him, Evans has gone from packing out the large Spiegeltent to this, a fairly small room, and even then it was less than half-full on a Friday.
See what I mean about diminishing returns?
A few of the crowd shared his views, including the woman in front of me who squeaked “Geoff!” excitedly when he mentioned his fellow right-wing comic Geoff Northcott, and the young chap who admitted admiration for the aforementioned “Tommeh” and was described by Evans as “showing promise”.
For Christ’s sake.
As for the show itself, it was a lazy, half-arsed amalgam of previous routines and obvious filler and Evans himself basically admitted it was a work in progress.
It’s meant to be based on Plato’s exhortations to live in the moment and takes its title from Coleridge’s epic poem Kubla Khan, and at one point Evans muses on Coleridge lamenting the waning of his poetic gifts.
How apt for this once-funny fellow.
Evans’s voice was hoarse due to a virus and he offered a free ticket to another show for anyone who wanted to hear this when he was fighting fit. I shan’t be taking him up on the offer.
Simon Evans: Staring At The Sun, 18.00, Just The Tonic At The Caves until August 24 (not 12)
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/simon-evans-staring-at-the-sun
