Sarah Kendell finds Simon Evans' first Fringe show in seven years a delight.
I’m a big fan of supporting up and coming acts on the comedy circuit, which is surely what the Fringe is all about. But sometimes it’s nice after a day of newcomers to be ushered comfortingly into the arms of a veteran who knows exactly what he’s doing and has the crowd in the palm of his hand from minute one.
Despite the fact this is his first time back to Edinburgh since 2002, Simon Evans’ 15-year comedy career is undoubtedly standing him in good stead to be one of the hits of this year’s festival. Kicking off with a ten minute warm-up routine offstage turns out to be a shrewd move. By the time he actually comes on, the audience have recovered from whatever mid-evening exhaustion they might have been feeling and are ready to go. Glancing about the three-quarters-full room, he doesn’t let the lack of sell-out success phase him, immediately assuming his brilliantly arrogant old Etonian persona. “Plenty of room for my jacket, then”, he says, hanging his blazer daintily on the back of a nearby empty chair.
Uttering his signature line, “If you’re struggling to place the accent, it’s educated”, Evans goes on to launch into a hilarious tirade of how posh accents have in fact become the new sign of wrongdoing. “They automatically think you’re up to something if you speak like this”, he says. “I’m probably having my moat welched with taxpayer’s funds.”
It’s perhaps not just Evans’ material, which, although dryly amusing in the classic British style, has no doubt been used enough times over the years. It’s the absolute confidence with which he adopts his smug character, taking it from a mere caricature to a complete embodiment of public school smarm, until you forget entirely that he’s actually putting it on. Delivered with razor-sharp wit and a compellingly dynamic stage presence, it makes for one of the most entertaining hours I’ve seen at the Fringe so far.
Simon Evans - Fringe Magnet will be at the Pleasance Beside at 9:50pm until August 30th.
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