From PM controversy to comic stage genius
AFTER getting into trouble for sneaking into places he shouldn’t have been, Simon Bodkin and his alter ego Lee Nelson were back where they most definitely should be - live on stage with Serious Joker.
He burst onto the stage at Middleton Arena to a rapturous Friday night welcome.
Simon recently made headlines across the world when he interrupted Prime Minister Teresa May’s speech at the Conservative Party Conference. In this, his latest prank, he approached the PM mid-flow and presented her with a P45 before approaching Boris Johnson exclaiming, ‘Job done, Boris!’.
Simon was immediately arrested for breach of the peace, but was later released.
When I caught up with him prior to the gig he said: “I applied for my pass to the Conservative Party Conference independently and in my own name”
He has also pranked such as Kanye West, Sepp Blatter and Donald Trump and even pranked on X-Factor!
I was keen to discover from Simon if his alter ego Lee Nelson works in all his raw South-London glory ‘up north’ or whether Mancs and Scousers get a slightly tempered version,
He said: “Absolutely! Lee gets a very similar reception in the north and the south. If anything, the further north I go the happier they are that someone’s bothered coming to their town!”
If the engagement and reaction in the Middleton Arena is anything to go by, Lee Nelson is certainly very well received by a northern audience, even though many of them were the butt of his lightning-quick putdowns and repartee.
Simon’s Serious Joker Live Stand Up Tour 2017 had been extended due to demand for tickets giving us the opportunity to enjoy two hours of a very well-honed act from a highly-skilled comedian at the top his game.
He confidently riffed on the idiosyncratic behaviour and responses of the ‘legends’ in the audience.
His ‘young legend’ of the evening being a 15-year-old young man who was accompanied by his parents and subjected to much ribbing throughout the evening. He was also hilariously on form with his put-downs of late-comers and toilet visitors.
What’s next for Simon Brodkin/Lee Nelson after Serious Joker? He told me: “There are a few exciting TV projects in the pipeline that’ll hopefully happen soon.”
Next up at the Middleton Arena are Ed Byrne with Spoiler Alert on Monday, November 20 and Dave Spikey with Juggling on a Motorbike on Friday, November 24.
For tickets, call the box office on 0300 303 8633 or visit link4life.org/ book-tickets/events.