Simon King in front of a sold out crowd at Nancy O's. Photo by Jon White
Simon King: Firing Off Rounds of Intelligence
By Jon White, Multimedia Reporter
After his set on Thursday, 6 March 2014, Simon King was heard saying, “I’m not angry, I’m frustrated.” Once one hears two minutes of him on stage, it is hard to disagree. However, this is not a bad thing, as King is frustrated at the things that we should be frustrated about: poverty, equal rights, poor government practices, racism, homophobia, celebrity worship, and economics (to name a few). He speaks with extreme confidence and lets loose, no holds barred and firing on all cylinders. If you were to take the confidence and intelligence of George Carlin and the unbridled energy of Robin Williams, you would get the type of charisma that Simon King exudes. His routine is loaded with social commentary that is made to make people think.
Thursday night MC, Mike McGuire. Photo by Jon White
King performed to sold out shows on Thursday and Friday, with the crowd responding with thunderous laughter and constant applause for both nights. His sets for both nights were over an hour, leaving the audience pinned to their seats with great interest for an extended period of time.King’s humor gets dark at times, but the purpose is to make one uncomfortable and make one question how they feel about a topic. King touches on subjects that are very sensitive to some people, such as euthanasia, only he confronts it with full force. He does not shy away from how it may make someone upset, but goes into a subject with guns blazing and makes sure you are aware of his stance by the end of the bit. King even said that if you are going to say something, you better stand by it. The conviction he has is so strong that you have to respect him for his point, even if you do not agree with him.
Thursday night comedian,Mark Wheeler. Photo by Jon White
Despite the energy and ferocity that King injects into sensitive subjects, he is very approachable when he is not on stage. After each show fans would come up to him and he would welcome the company with laughs and anecdotes. He is also quite humble, as fans would throw praise and congratulations to him and he would constantly give thanks for the compliments and for coming out to the show.
Thursday performer, Jon White. Photo by Brendan Gross
King was not the only performer, as there were a collection of familiar faces from the Prince George comedy scene out to lend their talents to the stage. For the Thursday show, local comedians Jon White and Mark Wheeler opened for King with Mike McGuire MCing for everyone. Mike is no stranger to MCing, as he has pulled hosting duties and getting laughs for many shows at Nancy O’s and for the Kinsmen Stand-Up for Charity events. For the Friday show, local comedian Bryce Lokken MCed for the night, with locals Virginia O’Dine and Brian Majore opening for King. Bryce may be relatively new to the comedy scene, but his confidence and jokes made him look like he was a seasoned veteran. Brian Majore recently returned from a tour of the coast with his comedy troop, The Rez Jesters, and entertained the crowd with some stories from his trip. Jon White, Mark Wheeler and Virginia O’Dine are also frequenters of the local comedy scene, performing at other Nancy O’s comedy shows as well as other comedy venues.
Friday night MC, Bryce Lokken. Photo by Jon White
There are deliberately no quotes from King’s routine mentioned in this article, as one should go into his show and not have any of his potential views spoiled for them. A lot of the material presented will be available on is upcoming CD. Also, despite best intentions, some quotes/jokes have the risk of being taken out of context, so it is best to just see the show for one’s self. Make no mistake though, King is just as smart as he is funny, and he will likely push the limits and make you think at the same time. It is that combination that makes comedy great, as comedy should be a social commentary with a humorous lens.
Friday night comedian, Virginia O'Dine. Photo by Jon White
There is a tagline on one of King’s posters that says “The funniest comedian you’ve never heard of.” It is unfortunate that more people have not heard of him, as he a hilarious comedian but he has not been discovered by a large amount of people yet. He is poised to explode into more people’s minds, as his list of performances include: The San Francisco International Comedy Competition, the Seattle International Comedy Competition, The Winnipeg Comedy Festival, The Edmonton Comedy Festival, The Vancouver International Comedy Festival and The Just For Laughs Festival to his breakout performances at the prestigious HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen and the HBO, TBS Comedy Festival in Las Vegas. He also has his own one hour comedy special on Comedy Network and CTV. His previous CD, ‘Unfamous’ is also available. He also has another CD slated later for release this year, along with another stand-up special.
Friday Night comedian, Brian Majore. Photo by Jon White
If you like your jokes with substance and conviction, check out Simon King. He has been doing this for over fourteen years and has done countless shows. He even had a spot on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, but unfortunately that was cancelled due to the infamous Conan/Tonight show fiasco. If one is interested in the humorous and commanding way King controls the stage, take a look at some of his videos or specials on YouTube, then check out one of his shows.
Simon King. Photo by Jon White