Simon Amstell - Numb

26-29 Apr ,

Sydney Comedy Festival

I... have become... comedically numb...

First published on 24 Nov 2011. Updated on 30 Apr 2012.

This event has finished

There is a great scene in Louie, the television show by American comedian Louis CK, when Louie explains to a heckler why her behaviour is intolerable.

Louie: Do you like your life?

Heckler: Yes? So?

Louie: I’m sure you do. You’re a student, you’re happy, you have good days, and you have full and fun nights, right?

Heckler: Yes. I’m not a loser, like you –

Louie: - yeah, see, but that’s the whole point. These guys, comedians; they don’t have a life. This is all they have. Their days are shit. They don’t have many friends, they don’t have families; they have this. The only good part of their lives is the fifteen minutes that they get to be on stage - maybe once a week, sometimes once a month. And you took that fifteen minutes […] that they would’ve enjoyed, and you ruined it.

I remembered that scene last night while watching Simon Amstell perform his latest show Numb, because the sentiment seems to certainly ring true for the temperamental and softly spoken British comedian.

Numb is about the difficulty in connecting in friendships and relationships and the challenge of, well, connecting to the world at all. Sounds like a total thigh-slapper, right? Well, it really was.

Despite being hopelessly awkward in the real world, on stage Amstell’s sad clown is articulate and philosophical. He doesn’t preach, just regales, and hits on striking and hilarious universal truths in the process. Comedy appears as therapy for Amstell, who dislikes conversation unless he is “raised on a stage and lit.”

His anecdotal tales of loves lost, family ties re-forged, parties attended and trips travelled flowed easily, and nothing seemed off-limits. He discussed his father, past boyfriends, sexual perversions, alarming eating habits, and general disdain for all people that he deems to be considerably less clever than himself.

The acerbic former host of Popworld and current host of Never Mind the Buzzcocks has been known to cut down a lot of his interview subjects and panel guests, but last night he went easy on his audience – even when a few piped up out of turn.

He probably should have come across as an asshole, but he didn’t. And that really is an impressive feat for a wry comedian that spent an hour on a Sartre-like trajectory, only to conclude that joy, annoyingly, is other people.

I just wish all philosophy could be that funny.

More comedy clubs, comedians and comedy festivals in Sydney? Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Words by Erin Moy