Stand-Up comedian Simon King is pleased to be able to return to Lethbridge to perform at a fundraiser for the LaughBridge Lethbridge Comedy Festival.
The UK/ Vancouver based King and local comedian Mav Adacer perform at the Slice, Nov. 25 at 8:30 p.m.
King has been performing stand up comedy since 2000, has released two comedy albums, “Unfamous” and his most recent “ Furious,” and is working on another. He has performed high profile events like the Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal and the Winnipeg Comedy Festival and has performed all over the world.
Robin Williams saw him perform and showered him with praise as well, saying "Having seen Simon perform many times I have been incredibly impressed with his unique talent. From everything I have seen Simon is truly a gifted comedian."
He just returned from the United Kingdom.
“I was there for a couple weeks, but it’s nice to come home even when it’s winter because it does rain a lot over there,” he observed.
He is a relative latecomer to stand-up comedy, only beginning performing in his early 20s for the first time.
“I wanted to be an actor and never really thought of stand-up comedy, but I did my first (stand up comedy) show in February 2000 and immediately fell in love with it and decided to dedicate my life to it and 17 years later here I am. I’ve been lucky,” he said, adding getting the attention of a legend like Robin Williams, was a pleasant surprise.
“He saw me perform a couple of times. He was really nice, so I asked him to write a recommendation for me,” he said.
While King is a fan of Robin Williams , he said he wasn’t an influence on him as a comedian, though there are similarities.
“I grew up in Britain and was raised British, so I was more influenced by Monty Python and the Flying Circus. Though we have have that same speed of delivery and stream of consciousness, ranting and raving that Robin Williams had,” he said.
He said a lot of his routine involved thinking on his feet.
“I don’t sit down and write jokes, I think about a topic I want to talk about, then I’ll riff on the subject and I remember the good parts. Usually the audience will let me know when I’ve gone too long, so I’ll keep the best pieces,“ he continued.
King is happy to play a fundraiser for the Laughbridge comedy festival, which will take place next year.
“I perform Lethbridge every eight months or so and audiences are pretty savvy. I always get a really great response there. So when Jon Grant (local comedian promoter and Laughbridge organizer) asked me to perform, I was happy to. And the Slice looks like a great venue, though it is smaller,” said King, who usually performs at Average Joes.
“It’s a full show, so I will be able to explore a lot of different subjects,“ he said.
He noted if the show sells out, he will consider performing a second show.
“People don’t usually consider comedy to be a viable entertainment option,” he said, adding he would like to change that.
“So comedy festivals like Laughbridge are important,” he said, adding he hasn’t finished deciding on what his routine will be.
“There will probably be some political stuff and maybe some thing about doomsday and how people observe it. There will be lots of characters and voices. Audiences in Lethbridge are very savvy, so I love performing there,” he said.
“People don’t often look at stand -up comedy as an entertainment option like going to a concert, but when they go to see live stand-up comedy, they come back.
He has a bit about being asked to perform in Africa, but not being able to do it as a white male, “ selling his self righteous, indignant white man rage in Africa.”
“I haven’t done it, but they still want me to come and perform there. I‘ve done comedy in places like Malaysia,” he said.
King is working on his third comedy album.
“It will be somewhere between ‘Unfamous’ and “Furious,’ which was a lot angrier and had more to do with politics, ” he said.
“The albums are a good gap between where my mind was at when I recorded them, ” he said.
He hopes people will come to the show.
“They should probably reserve tickets early so we can tell if there is enough interest for a second show,” he said.
The show begins at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $20.
