Little Lark of London

“Tom, what the hell is this show?”

After a debut stage show in 2022 and shows in both 2023 and 2024, Tom Simons, known to his millions of fans on the Internet as “TommyInnit,”  is bringing a mix of stand-up and stage show around the world. TommyInnit: The Survival Tour is Simons’s “first ever comedy tour” and is part of the promotion for the creator’s newest book, TommyInnit’s Guide to Survival (though this isn’t made very obvious). 

The show’s description splits it into two parts. The first focuses on Simons’s stand-up comedy, promising thirty minutes of “genius insights not contained in the book.” The second has a special guest interviewing Tom, saying that the two “will explore themes from the book” until the end of the show. 

As soon as the lights go down, one is immediately hit with the immense power of the fans who have gathered at the London Palladium. The screams made me feel as though I was about to see a concert, and the floor seemed to quite literally shake as people began clapping and cheering for Simons before he even stepped foot on the stage. Then, once Simons comes out, he begins with a performance of Chappell Roan’s “HOT TO GO!” but instead of lyrics, there are just groaning noises, as Simons claims he has trouble with lyrics, a running joke in terms of his singing abilities. 

Unfortunately, there is very little actual stand-up in this portion of the show, as most of the jokes are references to Simons’s YouTube videos or just antics, like him interacting with his “Invisible Girlfiend” and have two men carry him up and down the aisles so he can fly for his birthday (it is quite the way to spend your 21st birthday – playing the London Palladium!). There’s a segment on self-affirmation tied to his Guide to Survival book but that quickly devolves into an oddly specific bit about him having sex with a cat. 

After the interval, the special guest is brought out and it is none other than Daniel Howell, another popular YouTuber who has gained fame over the past decade along with Phil Lester, with the pair being known as “Dan and Phil” to their millions of fans. As someone who has been watching Howell’s videos for over a decade, it was fascinating to see someone from my generation of YouTube interacting with the younger generation and how the fans of each YouTuber reacted to different bits. There are quite a few sexual jokes that are followed by apologies to the 8-year-old audience member in the front row, with Simons’s begging them to “please forget” everything they’ve seen in the past two hours. 

But this section is not what the description made it seem like it would be. Instead of exploring themes from TommyInnit’s Guide to Survival, both Simons and Howell are reading from a script, exploring Howell’s biggest problem in life – apparently, he hates Phil Lester, calling him a “stupid, long, gay, blonde, annoying twat” and claiming that “that little twink makes me wanna die.” Granted, it is quite funny to see the pair interact, but it has little to do with the book that Simons is promoting and left me pretty confused on what one is supposed to “learn” from a guide to survival. 

On the show’s FAQ, one of the questions is, “Is the show suitable for everyone?” With the answer of “We like to think so, yes!” There were hundreds of children at this show, as most of Simon’s audience is made up of the younger generation who grew up watching YouTube during the pandemic, trapped inside being unable to go out and see the world. It was quite shocking, then, just how vulgar the show was. Though, on the other hand, many of these kids seem to be fully aware of the language used, with Simons letting the audience scream out their heckles for a minute, leading to my jaw nearly dropping in hearing the literal children next to me letting out some of the more intense swear words without a moment’s hestiation. This dynamic did lead to some funny moments, like children explaining the importance of “Dream” and “Technoblade” to their parents, but also in the reverse, including a young girl in front of me asking her father what a “woke liberal” is. 

The main difficult I have with this show is that, while it seems that Simons is attempting to branch out and move into the world of stand-up comedy, his shows as still fully pandering to those who are already fans of him, making it tough for anyone who is unfamiliar with his YouTube videos to fully enjoy the performance. Yes, the joke about being “half white” and the other half being “also white” is pretty funny the first time, but not the fifth or sixth time within thirty minutes. Simons has been performing in comedy clubs over the past year to build up his stand-up career and I would love to see more of that content from him instead of the scripted show content. 

Ultimately, TommyInnit: The Survival Tour is an interesting blend of stand-up and scripted comedy that will appeal to those who are fans of Simons. It will certainly be an enjoyable night for those who are already aware of Simons and his sense of humour, but may leave those who are new to the world of TommyInnit in quite a state of confusion. Putting this aside, it is certainly impressive to see what the 21-year-old has done so far and I hope to see more comedy from Simons in the future. 

TommyInnit: The Survival Tour is touring the UK and US until 13 May. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.