Simmons lands his own TV sketch show

Edinburgh comedy award nominee Sam Simmons has landed his own TV sketch show in Australia.

The absurdist has recruited a raft of fellow Australian comedians to the four-part series, Problems, including this year’s Edinburgh nominee, Claudia O’Doherty.

The rest of the team comprises Lawrence Mooney, Anthony Morgan, Ronny Chieng, David Quirk and Laura Hughes.

According to broadcaster ABC, ‘each episode looks to solve a problem ‐ not a crisis but a problem. A minor annoyance that spirals into a comedic adventure.’

They add that Simmons’ world includes ‘talking cats, taco‐induced psychosis and lawn chair philosophers’ – elements that are familiar from his acclaimed live work, which was nominated for the Fosters award last year.

On Twitter, he said: ‘Very happy to announce me and my fave punks are making a Telly show, hope you like it.’

Shooting has begun in Melbourne and the show is set to air later this year.

ABC’s head of comedy Debbie Lee thrice crowbarred the word ‘Australian’ into one sentence announcing the show, saying: ‘Australian sketch comedy fans will get to meet some of Australian comedy’s strangest minds, creating characters to be set in a fondly offbeat cream‐brick neverland that is the Australian suburban sprawl.’

Simmons returns to the UK at the start of December, when he begins a month-long residency in London’s Soho Theatre.

Published: 1 Oct 2012