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Simon Day - What a Fool Believes

Published Monday 3 November 2008 at 11:15 by Thom Dibdin

Whether his crisis is mid-life or financial, Simon Day has decided to seek out his comedic roots on the first solo stand-up tour of his career. Not that the Fast Show star has moved on much. After a brief poem, he sticks his nose in the air, puffs up his chest to reveal a glimpse of midriff under his tasteful Hawaiian shirt, and opens with a series of anecdotes which will amuse 46-year-old men brought up in Catford, South London.

Thankfully, he soon realises that such material is better left for the book tour and a clunky segue into going to the circus gets him riffing away on animal rights. It starts out as mildly contentious material - he’s against them - but quickly escalates into rounds of edgy, off-the-wall material which begin to show stand-up potential.

The second half drops back halfway between the two, with punter-friendly material based on his experiences in TV land. It makes for a heartfelt routine about being accosted in the pub by a fan, strong material on how different kinds of actors perceive themselves and each other and an intermittently funny sketch-style routine on the comparative joys and pitfalls of touring and TV.

Some very strong material on madness shows his ability to silence a room while keeping it onside, but misplaced banter with the audience shows he still has a lot to learn.

Day can write and deliver great stand-up comedy material. His problem is choosing it and adapting to the rigours of the form.

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