Simon Evans clambers on the anti-woke bandwagon [split topic]

[Utter Shit]

Only tangentially related, but has anyone noticed how odd Simon Evans has gone recently? He's on the same anti-woke comedy bandwagon that others have jumped on, and it just seems odd to me because he has always seemed like a perfectly reasonable, funny bloke. His latest thing, this morning, is posting photo after photo of Asian people wearing excessive face masks, with no explanation.

https://twitter.com/TheSimonEvans

[idunnosomename]

He has been a bit of a cunt on Twitter before and I think his agent has told him to play up the "right wing comedian" shit more and more

[Mobbd]

Only tangentially related, but has anyone noticed how odd Simon Evans has gone recently? He's on the same anti-woke comedy bandwagon that others have jumped on, and it just seems odd to me because he has always seemed like a perfectly reasonable, funny bloke. His latest thing, this morning, is posting photo after photo of Asian people wearing excessive face masks, with no explanation.

https://twitter.com/TheSimonEvans

I have noticed this and also thought it strange. I've always liked him and suddenly there's this weirdness. First picked up the vibe from his RHLSTP appearance and, though Herring touched on the issue towards the end, the feeling from him was "let's not get into this because we'll never agree on it and I don't respect our difference in opinion."

[DrGreggles]

Feels like a career move to me.
He's always had a snobbish stage persona, but never seemed RW.

But he's been getting a lot more telly and radio after the noticeable shift.
All on the BBC. Weird that...

[phantom_power]

A quick look at his timeline and he does retweet some TERF post about the Royal Institute

https://twitter.com/RMLLowe/status/1232825548570845185

[Jockice]

it just seems odd to me because he has always seemed like a perfectly reasonable, funny bloke.

Yeah, I quite like his stand-up, or the bits I've seen on telly anyway. Talking of which that Geoff Norcott bloke was on Live At The Apollo last night and he was...sort of okay but a bit meh really. I thought he'd be some sort of edgelord really laying into Labour but he wasn't really. I don't know if I'm disappointed or not but I couldn't even work up the enthusiasm to hate him.

[Twonty Gostelow]

According to reviews late last year and a week or so ago his current show includes some sort of personal revelation. I don't know if that connects with his online behaviour - I haven't looked at his feed and I don't know what the revelation is! (Best to include spoilers if anyone posts about it, he's still touring until May.)

... It's not easy to describe this show, not without spoiling it, anyway, because Evans is also edging us towards a simply remarkable personal revelation.
... He gets a medical, as is only wise for a man in his early fifties, and finds out that not only is he baffled by identity politics, he is also suddenly baffled by what he discovers about his identity.
... There is no way you can guess the huge twist in Evans's life that takes us into the second half.
... a terrifically tender conclusion that he handles intelligently, informatively, amusingly and unsentimentally. The first half should settle in as the tour continues. The second half is already dynamite.

[Tony Tony Tony]

He has been a bit of a cunt on Twitter before and I think his agent has told him to play up the "right wing comedian" shit more and more

He's gonna be run out of Brighton then?

[Bad Ambassador]

According to reviews late last year and a week or so ago his current show includes some sort of personal revelation. I don't know if that connects with his online behaviour - I haven't looked at his feed and I don't know what the revelation is! (Best to include spoilers if anyone posts about it, he's still touring until May.)

So not only can he not feel empathy for people different from himself, he discovers that he isn't himself either. What's next - is his soul going to divorce his body to own the libs?

[momatt]

Saw him live once at a Live at the Apollo filming.  He was horrible.  A really spiteful type of comedy.

[bobloblaw]

Feels like a career move to me.
He's always had a snobbish stage persona, but never seemed RW.

But he's been getting a lot more telly and radio after the noticeable shift.
All on the BBC. Weird that...

He presented a Radio 4 doc last autumn that was all 'wither right-wing satire'

[Utter Shit]

Yeah, I quite like his stand-up, or the bits I've seen on telly anyway. Talking of which that Geoff Norcott bloke was on Live At The Apollo last night and he was...sort of okay but a bit meh really. I thought he'd be some sort of edgelord really laying into Labour but he wasn't really. I don't know if I'm disappointed or not but I couldn't even work up the enthusiasm to hate him.

Yeah I think Norcott is ok - I don't agree with his politics, but his beliefs don't seem to come from a place of idiocy or hate like some others. He's fairly centrist and his jokes about the left tend to be at legitimate targets. It's important for the left to hear a voice like Norcott's IMO, making sure we have our own house in order, even if I don't think his jokes are particularly original.

[Utter Shit]

Feels like a career move to me.
He's always had a snobbish stage persona, but never seemed RW.

But he's been getting a lot more telly and radio after the noticeable shift.
All on the BBC. Weird that...

I saw him at Komedia in Brighton maybe a decade ago, and I don't remember any real political angle to him at all. I remember him being pretty good though, and one of his segues still makes me laugh to this day - he finished one story, and then simply went "I know some of you are thinking 'this is all very well, but where are his eyes?'". Brought the house down.

Interestingly looking back, I'm pretty sure he was on the same bill as Jeff Innocent, who is almost the polar opposite of Simon Evans - as he says himself, he looks like he's part of the BNP, but is actually left wing and dishes out lovely, thoughtful anecdotes about the beauty of integration.

[Jockice]

I saw him at Komedia in Brighton maybe a decade ago, and I don't remember any real political angle to him at all. I remember him being pretty good though, and one of his segues still makes me laugh to this day - he finished one story, and then simply went "I know some of you are thinking 'this is all very well, but where are his eyes?'". Brought the house down.

Yes. As a fellow piggy-eyes I found it quite reassuring. And very funny. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_uws4l9tAE

[Autopsy Turvey]

Only tangentially related, but has anyone noticed how odd Simon Evans has gone recently? He's on the same anti-woke comedy bandwagon that others have jumped on

Disagreeing with the far left is not a 'bandwagon', it is and has always been the correct and sensible instinct of the vast majority of well-adjusted folk. Surprised some of you are only just cottoning onto the fact that Simon Evans has some conservative views, for many years he has been the only comic on The News Quiz that the BBC could find to provide some sort of counterbalance against the show's prevailing tedious trendy lefty PC consensus, and perhaps not coincidentally has been the consistently funniest and most interesting guest.

This from two years ago on CaB's favourite webzine: https://www.spiked-online.com/2018/08/09/the-problem-with-woke-comedy/

"Stewart Lee first pointed the finger at me. He said I was the only right-wing comedian who he found funny, though I don't know whether that was the character of Stewart Lee writing about the character of Simon Evans. Nowadays, a lot of people say the left-right paradigm doesn't make much sense, anyway. I just find it interesting and fun to probe and project the extremes for comic effect. To the extent that I do political comedy, or comedy that addresses topical and thorny issues, I think the point is to be non-conformist, and to adopt a sort of Socratic approach, to try to test the coherence of the propositions of either side. Anyone who sees my show will see that Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn are dealt with quite even-handedly. It is not that I prefer her to him or vice versa, it is that I can't quite believe the poor quality of intellectual firepower that we're getting on either side. Really, that's my howl of dismay."

[Cold Meat Platter]

Disagreeing with the far left is not a 'bandwagon', it is and has always been the correct and sensible instinct of the vast majority of well-adjusted folk. Surprised some of you are only just cottoning onto the fact that Simon Evans has some conservative views, for many years he has been the only comic on The News Quiz that the BBC could find to provide some sort of counterbalance against the show's prevailing tedious trendy lefty PC consensus, and perhaps not coincidentally has been the consistently funniest and most interesting guest.

This from two years ago on CaB's favourite webzine: https://www.spiked-online.com/2018/08/09/the-problem-with-woke-comedy/

Away and fucking shit yourself.

[Utter Shit]

Yeah he's always been good on The News Quiz, providing a counter-balance to the consensus. Not sure how you've come to the conclusion that right wing comedy isn't a bandwagon, but left wing comedy is ("trendy lefty PC consensus")...I mean, the stand-up circuit has been overwhelmingly left wing for as long as I can remember.

I don't have an issue with his comedy though, it's more his Twitter persona which is much further right, and while he isn't saying anything especially offensive himself he seems to be increasingly aligning himself with the nastier end of right wing comedy. For example right now he is sticking up for Titania McGrath and rolling out the usual snidey, sarcastic comments about misgendering, dead-naming etc. He's better than that.

From that article you posted:

I think the point is to be non-conformist, and to adopt a sort of Socratic approach, to try to test the coherence of the propositions of either side.

I think this is what he does on The News Quiz. What he does on Twitter is...not that.

That article also delves into the most generic whatabouttery, the sort of thing you'd like to think someone "testing the coherence of the propositions of either side" would be above. Dismissing the sexual abuse allegations against Trump by saying "sort the Clinton problem out" doesn't seem like someone attempting to offer balance.

[Barry Admin]

Away and fucking shit yourself.

I knew there would be one or more of these replies before I even finished reading his post.

Can we not just debate him instead?

I'm aware of the arguments given in other threads currently about how useless it seems to debate certain types of people, but, well... this is a discussion forum.

Edit: nice one Utter Shit, thanks.

[Fambo Number Mive]

The News Quiz isn't "lefty", whenever I've listened to it it feels like centerist "satire". Hugo Rifkind, who is on the right, is sometimes on there, although he's more a satirist and journalist than a comedian.

[jobotic]

I'm not debating anyone as i've never heard of Siman Evans and stopped listening to the News Quiz years ago. It's odd how certain posters only pop up on certain threads though and they all sound like Milverton.

[Utter Shit]

Edit: nice one Utter Shit, thanks.

I'm not gonna lie I was pretty tempted given his posts in other similar threads!

[Shit Good Nose]

Other than being aware that he's a comedian, literally all I know of Simon Evans is his voice and his "where are his eyes?" bit, but I must admit this "personal revelation" stuff and the possible connection to a possible switch in political leanings (or whatever he's/we/others are calling) has got me intrigued.

Anyone know what it is?  (spoiler it, obvs)

The only thing I could find Googling it was a cryptic comment in a fairly negative review that said it was more suited to an episode of Who the Fuck Do You Think You Are You Cunt? than a "big reveal" at the end of standup show.

[Barry Admin]

I'm not gonna lie I was pretty tempted given his posts in other similar threads!

Tempted to tell him to go away and shit himself?  I'm glad you didn't, as the response you did give was an enjoyable read, and hooked me into a thread regarding a comic I know little about.

He's been here 15 years at least, he's a hardcore comedy nerd. I recall him making many thoughtful posts about comedy over a long period of time.

It's fine to have a pop at "the far left" on CaB. It's fine to only post in certain types of threads, about certain types of issues. Sometimes I only post about Apex Legends, Graham Linehan and cats.

[gib]

According to reviews late last year and a week or so ago his current show includes some sort of personal revelation. I don't know if that connects with his online behaviour - I haven't looked at his feed and I don't know what the revelation is! (Best to include spoilers if anyone posts about it, he's still touring until May.)

I want to know what this personal revelation is now.

[momatt]

"Anti-woke" is such a fucking stupid stance.  I assume people who align with this don't know what it means.

Oh, you think people who are against racism, homophobia and general unfairness are wrong?  Fucking hell.

It's like what Stewart Lee says about PC culture "just being fair to people".

[Cuellar]

Yeah, it's just 'it's PC gone mad' rebranded

[momatt]

Exactly.  But somehow with even more annoying terminology.

Anyway, I prefer the good old days when you could just be a massive cunt to everyone.

[Cold Meat Platter]

I knew there would be one or more of these replies before I even finished reading his post.

Can we not just debate him instead?

I'm aware of the arguments given in other threads currently about how useless it seems to debate certain types of people, but, well... this is a discussion forum.

Edit: nice one Utter Shit, thanks.

Fair enough, sorry. Lost the heid.

[Autopsy Turvey]

Yeah he's always been good on The News Quiz, providing a counter-balance to the consensus. Not sure how you've come to the conclusion that right wing comedy isn't a bandwagon, but left wing comedy is ("trendy lefty PC consensus")...I mean, the stand-up circuit has been overwhelmingly left wing for as long as I can remember.

Well that's it, left wing comedy isn't so much a bandwagon as the default vehicle - as right wing comedy was in the 70s, I suppose, even though right wing comics always tended to do far more apolitical/even-handed material (eg The Two Ronnies, Peter Cook, Kenny Everett etc). Right wing comedy isn't much of a bandwagon though, surely it's still just a handful of mavericks who have had to organise their own comedy night or tit around on YouTube because promoters won't touch them.

I think this is what he does on The News Quiz. What he does on Twitter is...not that.

Fair enough, I've just checked his twitter and can't explain why he's posting pictures of people in public wrapped in plastic, I mean I suppose they're grimly amusing in a dark strange way, especially the dog one, but I find all twitter feeds to be confusing and irritating wastes of time, can't believe this shit caught on.

Oh, you think people who are against racism, homophobia and general unfairness are wrong?  Fucking hell. It's like what Stewart Lee says about PC culture "just being fair to people".

It's important to understand why that SLee line hasn't dated well. He was interviewed recently by Jamali Maddix, and at one point he commented that maybe political correctness has gone a *bit* mad. Funnily enough Ben Elton says much the same in his recent stage show. The old childlike narrative of 'PC is just about being nice/polite/fair' just doesn't work anymore, as the people saying it are often disturbingly hateful and intolerant bigots caught up in an aggressive purity spiral of cancellation, doxxing and online vigilante mob justice - against people they've never met - for any perceived transgression, however minor, absurd or misunderstood.

Tempted to tell him to go away and shit himself?  I'm glad you didn't, as the response you did give was an enjoyable read,

Wasn't it! I don't mind being told to away and shit myself, not a bit, it was far less strong than I was expecting, which is good, because if I'm pelted with vicious insults the instinct is to pelt right back twice as viciously, and turn it into a sport. I used to enjoy 'the dozens', as George Carlin called it, in the early days of the internet, but it's a young man's game and in truth I wish nobody here any ill will, plus I've spent too long typing already today, and it is such a lovely day.

[phantom_power]

What you're doing there is confusing "political correctness" with "arseholes on Twitter". Twitter is a mouthpiece for any old cunt with an axe to grind so of course it is going to be full of extremists, both left right and all over the shop. The key is to not believe that their represent their side in any meaningful way