Simon found out he was autistic later in life, which was a surprise to him but absolutely no one else he tells us. Obsessed with model railways and rubix cubes he paints the stereotypical neurodiverse picture. Asking the audience to cheer if they’re autistic – and promising if you don’t know, you’ll find out by the end of the hour.
His material, although influenced by his autism isn’t totally anchored in it – and he’s funny enough without relying on it as a crutch. He has some clever wordplay, ‘my wife is a midwife, she married a mid’ he jokes, a good portion of these type of these gags hit but there is a noticeable number that don’t – although I believe with a little more work on his delivery he would have more success.
Talking us through his life, his hobbies that he shares with his dad, his wife and children – all very relatable and Simon does a good weaving his stories into jokes. A good number of jokes take a few seconds to register, which Simon acknowledges, whether by design or not it’s something that he could work on. It’s ok for a few jokes to take a second to process but when it’s a large portion it ruins the flow.
Simon’s ending felt abrupt, I think he had built up enough by the end to wrap up with a nice conclusion but just when I think he has done so he continues with additional jokes which make his actual ending on the awkward side.
Simon Harriyott: Autastic. Just The Spare Room at Just the Tonic at The Caves, 15:40, Until 24 Aug
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/simon-harriyott-autastic
