Sam Simmons American TV debut on Conan

Sam Simmons put on one of the more gleeful and dizzyingly giddy one-man shows I’ve seen at Montreal’s Just For Laughs. Naturally, Simmons also is one of those Australian comedians who made a name for himself in the U.K. before putting himself before American audiences now.

Then again, nature abhors a vacuum. As do many dogs. So what does it mean to translate a live show that’s heavy on interaction and audience intimacy, putting it on a larger stage with television cameras intruding upon the intimacy? Can the audience members forget they’re on TV for a second and live in the moment and the bizarre spectacles of humor beaming out from behind Simmons’s spectacles? I’m not sure it works quite the same. All the same, here we were. Last night on Conan, Simmons made his American TV debut.

Drawings. Dancing. Monologues turned into dialogues. Crowd work heightened to conclusion. It’s all in there. In here. Right here. Roll the clip!

Conan’s intro mentioned Simmons also will be seen on the upcoming first season of Adam DeVine’s House Party on Comedy Central. That’ll be a more interesting set to captivate you, I bet.

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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