The excellent and long-serving purveyor of high quality stand-up Simon Evans is on a very extensive tour just now with his latest show ‘Staring At The Sun’, and it’s very pleasing to know that two dates will be taking place in London shortly. 

We’ve been fans for a long time, not least because of the various occasions when we’ve enjoyed seeing him perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. 

I thought it was about time we caught up with him – to find out more about this show, more about the man, and what we can expect from him in the future. 

CM: Can you start by telling us what to expect from ‘Staring At The Sun’? What topics/themes do you address in the show? 
SE: The themes for ‘Staring At The Sun’ are alarmingly grandiose! The nature of inspiration, the human imagination and to what extent it builds the world around us, and what hidden mechanisms and ‘prompts’ it takes, and all that jazz. 

But of course I should emphasise that this is all buried deep beneath the ground most of the time, as I go through a series of stories about hitch hiking, prog rock and why everyone should get engaged to Neil Diamond. 

CM: What made you want to talk about these things? What inspired this?
SE: I wanted to try and share some of my genuine passions and interests. The sort of things I love raving about with my oldest friends, and that still make me smile decades after they happened. 

I have for many years felt that the purest kind of laughter is that between old friends and the trick of stand-up comedy is to convince an audience that they number among mine!

CM: There’s talk of philosophical exploration etc, in the press release, which suggests a somewhat intellectual vibe. Is there any chance at all that this show is too clever for me to understand? 
SE: Always a chance but I work hard to make Plato accessible! Tbh, anyone who is able to navigate the booking process on a venue website should also be able to follow the ‘Allegory Of The Cave’ and it’s all downhill from there 🙂

CM: How do you go about putting your shows together? Do you sit down and write them? 
SE: It’s a good question and the fact is that the process is elusive to me too. I am sure that more than half of my hard work is wasted, but like they say with advertising, the trick is working out which half. 

But a significant part of the process only kicks in once I am actually on stage and banging it out. Ad libs that become permanent team members and connections between routines start becoming apparent only once you have an audience. 

CM: As an old-ish person who has watched a lot of comedy careers progress, I’ve seen a lot of comedians wind down/step back from live touring as time went on. You’re doing a 50 date tour. What makes you keep doing it? 
SE: Well first and foremost the obvious thing to say is that this is my job! I don’t have any other source of income! 

But also it does remain a great source of energy and revival to me. I would love to be able to teleport to the further venues and maybe afford to travel with an entourage but other than that, the stage is my second home. Maybe my first. 

CM: How do audiences in different parts of the country/world compare to each other? Are there areas or venues that you especially like to perform in? 
SE: There are some venues that have a really strong loyal following and you can always tell that they are match fit for a comedy show. But it’s not a regional thing or anything.

There is no part of the country that is any better for comedy, though there might be one or two that are just a little bit more fond of their local favourites! But I am not going to make it worse by saying which they are!

CM: How does stand-up compare, for you, to the other facets of your career, like the Radio 4 stuff, or your work as a writer/columnist – do you have a preference for one over the other?
SE: I love Radio 4 and I really love writing columns, mostly for Spiked. It’s a great day’s work, to start with an idea and have a thousand published words at the end of it. Very satisfying.

But the sad reality is that none of that really pays. I could barely feed myself let alone pay a mortgage. Writing and performing Radio 4 shows like ‘Simon Evans Goes to Market’ is roughly at minimum wage, if you do it properly.

Only stand-up keeps me afloat!

CM: And was this the kind of work that you always wanted to do? Has your career unfolded thus far the way you planned, or expected? 
SE: I did not grow up wanting to be a stand-up, but I did want to write and be funny, and it just so happens I found the third ingredient, the microphone, just in the nick of time, at 31. Since then, it has gone better than I could have dreamed at 30.

There are occasional moments when I calculate the net takings of a three night run at the Hammersmith Apollo that has eluded me so far but if I’d been offered this back in 1996, I’d have bitten your hand off.  

CM: Who or what are your inspirations and influences? 
SE: I used to say John Cleese, Woody Allen and Douglas Adams. I still revere them but I think I’d now add Galton and Simpson and perhaps Les Dawson… Old skool.

And always Alan Coren, Stephen Potter, Wodehouse etc… Writers much more than stand-ups. 

CM: Do you have any unfulfilled ambitions that you would like to pursue? 
SE: Becoming rich! And always, knuckling down and writing a book. Theme – Regrets (I’ve had a few). 

CM: What’s coming up next for you after this big tour? 
SE: Would you believe, more of the same! An autumn leg is planned. 

CM: What else can we expect from you in the near future? 
SE: I will just mention that the show I helped devise for Radio 4 – ‘One Person Found This Helpful’ – is coming back for a third series! 

Simon Evans’ ‘Staring At The Sun’ is on at Leicester Square Theatre from 27-28 Feb, click here for tickets.

The tour continues on to myriad locations, including Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham and Southampton: see the full list of dates here. 

LINKS: leicestersquaretheatre.com | thesimonevans.com