Simon Evans

On BBC Radio 4, his series Simon Evans Goes to
Market, has now enjoyed six seasons, delighting
audiences with his witty and insightful take on the
comedically unpromising territory of economics, all of
which prove among the most popular downloads on the
Sounds App.

He also wrote and presented Simon Evans is Right, a
relatively serious look at the difficulties faced by BBC
Radio 4 in achieving political balance in their comedy
output, which can also be found on Sounds.

Meanwhile Simon has now co-devised (and appears on
the panel of) One Person Found This Helpful, hosted by
Frank Skinner—the popular new Radio 4 panel game that delights in the eccentric world of online
reviews.

He is also a regular on Radio 4’s The News Quiz.

Simon’s previous live tour shows such as Work of the
Devil, Genius 2.0, Friendly Fire and Leashed have sold
out theatres around the country and garnered superlative
reviews from national and comedy press.

At the Edinburgh Festival, Genius 2.0 received the rare
and highly coveted ★★★★★ rating from The Scotsman—the reviewer describing it as a
“Masterclass”.

Work of the Devil (2019-2023) took Simon into new
territory, delivering a “jaw-dropping” story [Chortle]
of remarkable, unexpected emotional depth and
tenderness without sacrificing any of the laughs. Many
audience members described it on Twitter as among the
best things they’d ever seen. He continues to work this
new seam with his current show Have We Met?
On the corporate and after dinner circuit, Simon is
cherished for his ability to perform an entirely clean set
without compromising on the laughs—but also to
“strengthen” the language when appropriate, without
descending into vulgarity. His relative maturity and
reference points have made him a great hit with audiences who might find some of his peers’ comedy rather juvenile. He is also much sought after for awards functions etc for his air of authority and the ability to
deliver from autocue or script with natural ease, panache and, when necessary, a good turn of pace.

Away from comedy, Simon enjoys many of the good
things in life—wine, whisky and song, classical music,
walking his Golden Retriever along the Sussex coast
and doggedly trying to clear his reading pile. He’s a keen cyclist, hill walker and, twinges permitting, indoor
rock climbing enthusiast. He is to date the only
comedian to have appeared on both University
Challenge: The Professionals (on the Comedians team,
narrowly beaten by the eventual series winners, The
Ministry of Justice!) and Christmas University
Challenge, representing his alma mater, Southampton.
He also won Celebrity Mastermind in 2012, with his specialist subject being Sir Ernest Shackleton. He has appeared multiple times on various debate shows,
including BBC Question Time and The Big Question,
and on innumerable popular podcasts. In 1994, before
he became a comedian, he became the only contestant
in the history of The Krypton Factor to win his heat,
only to be disqualified on a technicality!

Tour Shows

• Have We Met? 
  2023–2025
• The Work Of The Devil 
  2019–2023
• Genius 2.0 
  2017–2019
• In The Money 
  2016–2017
• Leashed 
  2014–2016
• Friendly Fire 
  2012–2014
• Fringe Magnet 
  2010–2011

International

• Cape Town Comedy Festival 
  2001
• New Zealand Comedy Festival 
  2002
• Montreal Just for Laughs 
  2004
• Aspen Comedy Festival 
  2005

• Live at the Apollo (BBC1)
• Stand Up For The Week (Channel 4)
• Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow (BBC1)
• Question Time (BBC1)
• The Big Questions (BBC1)
• Mock the Week (BBC2)
• Dave’s One Night Stand (Dave)
• Celebrity Mastermind (BBC 2)
• University Challenge—The Professionals, (BBC2)

• Simon Evans Goes To Market
• The News Quiz—guest host
• The News Quiz—panellist
• The Way It Is
• Best Policy (Radio 4)—host
• True Lies, A World Without… and others (Radio 4)—panellist
• Beating The System (Radio 4)—sole writer and performer
• Troublestarter (Radio 4), three-part series—sole writer and performer
• The Mighty Boosh (Radio 4)—performer
• The Big Booth (Radio 4)—performer
• Armando Ianucci’s Charm Offensive
• The Unbelievable Truth
• Heresy
• True Lies and seven series as anchor and principal writer on
• The Way It Is

Simon first started contributing to BBC Radio 4 in the mid-nineties, with short authored pieces created for the Afternoon Shift, a much-missed magazine show hosted by Laurie Taylor. Most of that seems to be lost, but later collaborations including topical/satirical weekly The Way It Is are soon to be brought to Audible, it seems. In the meantime, most of Simon Evans Goes to Market, the unique blend of comedy and economics, are still available on BBC Sounds. He also devised and starred in the new panel game hosted by Frank Skinner: One Person Found This Helpful. And of course, on TV, you can catch Simon hosting GB News Headliners a couple of times a week, either live, on the app, or on the YouTube Channel. Indeed, a search of his name on YouTube will bring up more TV and podcast material etc than you can shake a stick at.

• Not Going Out
• The Big Breakfast
• Johnny Vaughan Tonight
• TV Heaven, Telly Hell
• The Late Edition
• They Think It’s All Over
• Eight out of Ten Cats