S6E2 - Philip Simon
This week’s guest is writer, actor and comedian, Philip Simon.
Philip started out as an actor, attending the Guildford Theatre School before landing his first professional gig in a commercial. After a long run as Daddy Pig in a staged puppetry production of Peppa Pig, he decided it was time for a change and enrolled in a course at The Comedy School in London.
On the stage performing standup comedy is where Philip feels immense joy. We chat about his work and also the sudden impact of COVID lockdowns on performers. While unable to entertain audiences in person, the father of two acted as head teacher for his kids and also created “School’s Out Comedy Club”, an online comedy program for kids. Out of that came a kids’ comedy book and the opportunity to give back. Profits from book sales go to the charity FareShare which fights against hunger in the UK.
Philip also teaches sex education in Jewish schools and hosts the podcast “Jew Talkin’ To Me” with fellow stand up comic Rachel Creeger. He’ll be at Edinburgh Fringe this year with two shows so check out the details below. You’ll want to find out where to watch him after listening to this one!
Note from Rabiah (Host):
I have to admit, editing this one was not easy. Sometimes I spend a lot of time reflecting on what a guest said. Sometimes I even cry. In this case, I did a lot of laughing! I am always grateful to my guests for taking the time to share stories about themselves and to listeners for taking the time to hear them. For me, it was particularly important timing for me to listen to someone talk about loving comedy the way Philip does. It was also a lot of fun. Let me know what guests resonate with you or what joke you heard that you like best!
Rabiah (London) chats with Philip (London) about his career in stand up comedy. There are also a couple of knock, knock jokes!
Transcript
[00:04:13] This is More Than Work, the podcast reminding you that your self worth is made up of more than your job title. Each week I'll talk to a guest about how they discovered that for themselves. You'll hear about what they did, what they're doing and who they are. I'm your host, Rabiah. I work in IT, perform standup comedy, write, volunteer and of course podcast. Thank you for listening.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Hello, and welcome back to More Than Work this week. I just, I'm going to get you to the episode pretty quickly, because it was a lot of fun to record and a lot of fun to edit and kind of difficult to edit because this guest and I kind of went off the tracks a few times, but I hope that you're as entertained as we were by ourselves.
It's comedian, Philip Simon. He's a pro comic here in London and in the UK [00:05:13] and has done some really cool stuff. But, it was kind of awesome to talk to someone- I've talked to comedians who are like me, who have been doing it as a second job, or kind of a hobby, that's eventually a goal for them to get to, to what Philip's doing, which is actually doing this as his job.
So it was really interesting to talk to him about how he got there and what he does. He does some charity work too, which is awesome. And that's one thing that really resonated with me when I thought he'd be a good guest for the podcast. So, um, just kind of forgive us a little bit, cause you're dealing with two people who think they're funny.
One of them for sure gets paid to be funny. The other one is, is me who isn't doing that yet, but, but still, you know, makes people laugh every once in a while. Um, and I just yeah, have fun with this one. If you're listening and you're in the UK, he's going to be at Edinburgh Fringe so he'll talk about that at the very end, but start looking and supporting acts who are going to be there.
I'm going to be at Camden Fringe just for three dates with one of my friends doing a [00:06:13] double bill and just trying out a longer set just kind of like I did last year, but a little better. Let me know if you have any guest ideas or you have any feedback. I'd love to hear it. And I'm really excited. I've got a couple guests similar to Philip who are really pros in their areas coming up too.
Not all comedians, but an author coming up and a few others that I'm really excited for you. So stick with season six. Don't forget to leave a review, rate, all that kind of stuff. Thank you.
Rabiah Coon (Host): All right. So my guest today is Philip Simon. He's an award-winning comedian writer and actor. So thanks for being on Philip.
Philip Simon: Thanks for having me.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah. Glad you're here. So where am I talking to you from?
Philip Simon: I am in my front room at home, which started off life as was meant to be a snug, a spare room, that kind of thing, and then lockdown hit, and it became like an emergency study where everyone had to work when the kids were being homeschooled elsewhere,
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah, [00:07:13] a lot of people had that, that room transition, I think
Philip Simon: the
Rabiah Coon (Host): during that time.
Philip Simon: room transition and the mental breakdown, I think. The two, the two very much went hand in hand.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah, totally. And, and by your accent, I mean, I think people listening can know that you're somewhere in London, which is where I am, sans the accent.
Philip Simon: I'm in the London Hartfordshire borders. Is that what you meant when you said where, where are you? You didn't mean the room I'm in?
Rabiah Coon (Host): No, but that's fine.
Philip Simon: That shows how London-centric I am. I'm like, well, of course, everyone knows I'm in London. You want to know the exact place I'm in.
Rabiah Coon (Host): yeah,
Philip Simon: So, yeah, I'm, I'm in London, Hartfordshire... home.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Cool. First of all, you're an award-winning comedian writer and actor. That's what we went through. So you started out in an actor though, right before you were the other things?
Philip Simon: I did. Yes.
When I was about 12, I realized I was terrible at everything at school. And I went to quite an academic school and a rugby type school. And I was awful all of that, but I was good at acting. I was [00:08:13] good at performing. I enjoyed that. And I was lucky the teachers there to nurture that and not just go, well, there's nothing we can do for you. So I joined youth theatre out of school and I did the school plays and I got an agent and did a few small sort of TV jobs and commercials and things like that. And then when I left school, I went to the drama school, became an actor, did that for about 10 years, stopped liking it as much, started to stand up, which I'd already started to think about.
And from the time I started being an actor, people were always telling me I should be doing comedy. I'm funny. And I should be... you make us laugh. You sure you don't do stand up? That kind of thing. And I resisted it because I always wanted to be an actor. But the thing about being an actor is you wait so long for somebody to give you a job that when you finally get that opportunity, you kind of go, "Oh, is what it is." It doesn't maybe live up to the expectations. I had some lovely jobs. I really enjoyed a lot of what I [00:09:13] did, but eventually I didn't want to do it anymore so I started stand up. And from the moment I performed stand up on stage that was my happiest I've ever been. That was just, I kind of came alive.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah. But 10 years of acting, I mean, that's quite a while to be doing that. Did you have any time that you love? Yeah, well, no, but did you like it at some point during that? Or was it always just kind of not what you wanted, but you had...
Philip Simon: No, I loved it. I loved it. I, I loved being at drama school.I went to the Guildford School of Acting, which has quite a well established school. It's got some famous people who went there as well. So it's quite, quite well-respected. I did the three-year course there and you leave, you do a showcase, get an agent.
My first job out of drama school was a TV commercial which is great because it's sort of two days work, but you earn enough money to sit back for six months. I did some theater and I absolutely loved that. Some touring theater, where I did [00:10:13] the acting ASM job. The it's assistant stage manager where you you've got a few lines in the play, but you're also having to move scenery and chip in with all that.
I, I loved that. Absolutely loved it. I worked at people I'm still friends with now, and that was over 20 years ago. ,And I I've lost touch with people I met five years ago. So, you know, I I've made some really good friends doing that job. Did some pantomimes, which is great British tradition of silliness at Christmas.
Always kind of veering towards comedy, but not knowing that I should be doing comedy really. Did a
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah.
Philip Simon: bits. But you know, you're, you're at the studios for a week and you've got three lines to perform. There's a lot of time to sit and wait and do nothing. When you're actually performing, I loved it.
I really enjoyed it. When I wasn't acting, I was temping in offices, which is really easy, know, I wasn't having to be a waiter. I wasn't having to [00:11:13] work wage cleaning, pots and pans and things. I was able to have the flexibility of working in an office, which I was good at. And they had contracts that lasted a day or contracts that lasted a few years.
And if I had an audition, I could just disappear. I could go for a job audition or take a week off to do some work. And there was no commitment. Yeah.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah.
Philip Simon: at its peak, I loved it. Uh, the big job I did was playing Daddy Pig in the Peppa Pig production. And I need to make it clear it was a theater production because a lot of people get very cross if I even hinted at the possibility was Daddy Pig on TV. But, uh, but I did that for a year and a half. It was puppetry. I don't know if you've seen Avenue Q, but it was that kind of puppetry where we're stood on stage
Rabiah Coon (Host): Okay.
Philip Simon: is able to see us we work the puppets, but because they're kids, they didn't see us, they saw puppets.
They saw the characters. [00:12:13] So we were kind of invisible to them, really. But it was an incredible job that destroyed me physically and emotionally. And when I came out of that after a year and a half, we did, we did the West End. We, we toured the UK and Ireland, then we did the West End the Christmas period.
This was 2009 to 11. When it came to the end of the run, they offered us the chance to stay on. But I was like I dont want, wanna, I don't want to just do this by left thinking, oh, I'll go into loads of other jobs and nothing really satisfied. Nothing. I didn't want, I didn't really want to do that anymore.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah.
Philip Simon: just carried on temping. Did, did a stand up course. Started stand up and here I am starring in a podcast.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah, well, that's, that's, that's a good trajectory, isn't it? You know, I think you've, you've, might've peaked. I hope not, but we'll see. So [00:13:13] with the comedy, I mean,, taking the course, and that was probably the first time you'd been in any kind of course in a long time, how did you decide to take a course versus just go do it?
Because there's a lot of debate, I think among comics about, do you even need to do a course now? I did one, um, because I felt like I liked to have courses. I like to be bonafide in some way. So how'd you decide to go about it that way?
Philip Simon: I had been writing ideas, jokes and ideas for a long time anyway. Just, not knowing what was going to do with them. anytime a thought or something, it kind of went in the mental, um, kind of notebook. And then I might write it down somewhere. And I had been randomly to, uh, an afternoon open mic somewhere.
Can't remember where it was now. And no one turned up. There was no audience. Only like three other comedians. And [00:14:13] I was so desperate for this not to happen. I did cause I, I was like I don't know what I'm going to say. I'm going to get up on stage. I've got nothing to say because all the ideas in my head, they're not formulated.
They're not structured. That was my very first introduction to stand up. And I don't even remember when it was. Like the timeframe between that and going to do this course. when I left Peppa Pig, I knew already about this place in Camden called The Comedy School because I had done a a sitcom conference, I guess. Like a day's conference with casting directors there, writers there, and you went from session to session.
And, so I knew about The Comedy School. So I just looked on their website. I was just temping one day. Do you where I was? I was it, temping in an office that re houses people when they are, uh, made homeless through an insurance claim. So the house floods was my [00:15:13] job to either find them accommodation or
find furniture and stuff for their accommodation. That, that was one of my temp jobs. And I was just sat there one day, Googling And I thought, I'm going to see what this, what this school could offer me. And I did the course. I signed up there and then. It was eight weeks on a Sunday morning in Camden. Which is, there's no way comedy is meant to work then. There were about 14 of us on the course. I think only about two or three of us performers. The rest were doing it for different reasons. Someone was doing it to win a bet. Someone was doing it because their friend had done it before and they'd had fun. I think there were only a couple of us.
And now from my course, I think I'm the only one still doing straight stand-up. There's maybe two other performers I can think of. But, I knew as soon as I got there, that's what I wanted my career to be. I, [00:16:13] I remember sitting in that room the first time and the guy who runs it, Keith Palmer of went around the room and everyone was being a bit coy when he, he was saying to them, do you think you're funny? they're going, oh, I don't. Well, I, I mean, people tell me I'm funny. And, uh, and he got to me. I was like, yes.
Rabiah Coon (Host): yeah.
Philip Simon: I know I'm funny. Um, I know, I don't know how to structure what I've got, yet. I need the discipline but I also know, I don't want to be driving to gloves, go for 20 quid to drive back from Glasgow. You know?
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah.
Philip Simon: knew that I wanted to think seriously about to, as a career.
And that course gave me the structure that I needed to take ideas and material. See what I could do with it. around with what I could do with it in a very safe space. And I think without that course, I would have been kind of just lost the open mic circuit for a long time. And since then,
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah.
Philip Simon: that course in [00:17:13] 2011.
So are we now? 2022 is exactly over 11 years since I did it. Since then, the opportunities that I've had in the standup world directly from
them have been amazing. I've worked with them. I still go back and talk to the current students and do a Q and A and talk to them about the circuit. And it's that involvement that I really, really like.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah. Yeah. And then, well, it created a different part of the community for you then the broader one too, which is nice.
Philip Simon: Yeah.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah. So do you remember the first joke you wrote that you properly wrote?
Philip Simon: I remember the first joke I told.
So this I must've been, I don't know, five or six, seven, and I was, I was being lippy to my dad, which wasn't like me. Uh, um, [00:18:13] think my, my brother who's four years older than me was being a bit of a dick. And I was winding him up to the reaction from my dad. My, my dad said something like, um, it, Philip. Don't stir. And I said, can't stir, I haven't got a spoon. And I was so proud of myself that this joke could kind of come and come off because I could see he was impressed. Cross, impressed.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah.
Philip Simon: so that was the first joke I remember. I remember vividly performing. Writing... I've got one of my favorite jokes, which is what I call obituary, which is where I read out the obituary from where my grandma died.
And by the end of it, actually become a lonely hearts advert for me. Um, [00:19:13] and I wrote that a long time before my grandma died.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah.
Philip Simon: used it, obviously it was just one of the ones I've written and just have somewhere in the, in my brain file. And then when she did die, I used it and it was very cathartic because we were very close.
She was my only living grandparent. So very close. I still sometimes use it now. And it's lovely to be able to say her name. And that, that's the one, I think my oldest memory of a joke that I and put together and I'm quite proud of as well.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah. I mean, I'm a much newer comic than you. So I have, a few things I've written about my grandma and one of them works pretty well so far. I'm still cleaning it up. But, um, and I told my mom, it's just, I like that I'm honoring her in that way, even though it's kind of having to go at her a little bit, it's just fun.
Like,
Philip Simon: Hmm.
Rabiah Coon (Host): sometimes fun to write jokes [00:20:13] that kind of, you know, poke at people that you love, but also, you know, you're spending your time on stage talking about them.
So
Philip Simon: And I get to say her name. Like I get to share and actually, I did it recently at a gig and I said her name. She was Daphne Benjamin. And then afterwards, someone shouted out, "I think I know your mother." And it was such a Jewish response. I'm Jewish. Obviously I should
Rabiah Coon (Host): yeah.
Philip Simon: to any listeners who think he's about to go off on a rant. I'm Jewish, um, to any rant I'm allowed to go on has been endorsed by my, my people.
Um, but it was such a Jewish... He'd, he'd been a member of our synagogue hearing the name, Daphne Benjamin had triggered in him, goodness. I totally know who that person is." location where we were made sense of. And he just shouted out. think I know your mother, [00:21:13] which is a weird heckle to get, but great fun as well.
And it wasn't, it wasn't an easy gig. So I was quite happy to chat to him for a few minutes. Um, but yeah, it's, it's nice. It's nice when you can do that. And you know, our comedy really is personal. It's about, it's about us, even if you're uh, writing jokes as a bit of you in all of it, or if it's anecdotal.
So I like it.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah, that's cool. So do you have a favorite part of, of what you're doing now? I mean, is it the writing is the performing, is it both? Neither?
Philip Simon: I now really love talking to the audience. I compere a lot. I host the shows quite often. I run my own club where I live well. And that's really nice to be able to host and compere. But because lockdown, obviously we weren't allowed to do stand up in the same way [00:22:13] and the chance now to get back out there and talk to the audience is really, really special.
it is a skill that I've got. I can do it. It's not flawless. I don't, you know, I make mistakes. I sometimes. are definitely times I get halfway home and think, oh, I should've said that. That would have been funnier. But I'm quite good at thinking on my which the, the birth of my first son was a skill that deteriorated very quickly because I was so tired. But clearly I'm less tired now.
maybe don't tell my wife that. Um, but, I'm traveling a lot comedy as well. And being able to talk to the audience when you're abroad and you don't have necessarily the same of being able to talk about London tube because they live in London or house prices cause they live in. Just talking to people, making them laugh, making [00:23:13] them remember what it was to be kind of out in a live entertainment scenario, which they weren't able to do.
So you know, we can moan about us not being able to do it, but they weren't either.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah. Yeah. Well, and so during lockdown, so many people in entertainment and this, and definitely comics did lose like their ability to do their livelihood, at least in the traditional way. Like I, being new did Zoom comedy. And it was fine for me, but I understand why some people didn't want to do it, but you ended up doing your own thing using Zoom. So want to talk a little bit about that?
Philip Simon: Yeah, I mean, lockdown was awful. Just, It came overnight. My diary emptied It was March, 2020 the week lockdown hit. I had a full diary for that just for that week. The day after I was meant to fly to Switzerland, to film a commercial.
I was going to come back and do a corporate comedy [00:24:13] set, private party, a school PTA gig. A lot of work went out the window overnight and we all just assumed, oh, it just be a couple of weeks. Be fine. We're back in no time. then it wasn't. It was months. And eventually much longer before comedy really came back.
People started doing the Zoom gigs and we all tried to do a few of those mainly to try and stay some kind of relevant, um, and in people's minds. And I think that was important. was very lucky. I didn't to get a job during lockdown. I was able to earn enough from the bits that I was doing, Then, because I was also homeschooling my children, I could see how bored and frustrated they were.
So they were how old must have been three and five at the time. And I was a terrible teacher. [00:25:13] Because I'm not a teacher, I'm a dad and I'm not a brilliant dad, but, um, no, I, I'm a very good dad, but I'm not a good teacher and
Rabiah Coon (Host): Um,
Philip Simon: want to be a teacher either. And they didn't want me to, you know, you're living through a pandemic.
You want to look after them. So I was trying to think of ways I can entertain children and ways that I could keep my comedy brain somehow active. So I came up with a children's comedy show, which did nothing for my comedy brain, but did keep me active and in the world of comedy. So I created a kid's show called School's Out Comedy Club.
And the idea being originally, I was going to do a bit like Joe Wicks, who was doing his daily workouts. I was going to do a daily comedy show for five, just five minutes each day. The kids were going to send in jokes and I would tell those jokes and say goodbye kids, we'll see you tomorrow.
Rabiah Coon (Host): um,
Philip Simon: It became a nightmare to put together so it never became daily. It became sort of weekly, I think. And [00:26:13] eventually every other week, because I had to after my kids as well and the shows together, you know, Joe Wicks would just go live at nine in the morning or whatever it was and do 20 minutes of exercise. I needed to prep a show and film it, edit it, put it out, plug it everywhere, get the to send jokes in.
Some kids were doing videos of themselves telling their jokes. was editing those into the videos. So I did that. I did some live shows with it on zoom as well so I was hosting it and getting the kids to tell each other their jokes. And I did throughout, I think the Easter holidays, it was part of the Leicester Comedy Festival, I did a whole series of it for, I think there's about 20 different shows. all on YouTube. So if anyone's and wants to entertain their children, go to School's Out Comedy Club on YouTube. Completely free. The show was nominated for best kid show, Leicester [00:27:13] Comedy Festival, which was lovely.
it meant I could stay kind of in the world of comedy. We printed a joke book as well so all the jokes that were submitted by the kids, there's another comedian called Joe Bor, who did some cartoons for the book. And I compiled it and we're selling that for charity. It's raising money for FareShare, which is a charity
Rabiah Coon (Host): Um,
Philip Simon: that raises money to feed families and vulnerable children.
I got a thousand books printed. Uh, I sold out last week.
So that's exciting. Um, that provides that 4,000 meals in total for the charity. that said, I need to make the donation. But when I make, when I make my last donation, which will be hopefully this tomorrow, maybe, uh, this week, they'll, there'll be 4,000 meals that they'll be getting, is lovely because the kids gave me the joke.
The kids gave the jokes. I didn't really want [00:28:13] to start monetizing that for myself, which is ridiculous. I'd be kicked off The Apprentice on week one, but I didn't want to monetize it for me. I'm in the process of printing the next batch of books so we can keep selling them cause I've been selling them at gigs and that's been really helpful.
And also I'm doing a live show, so I'm taking it to the Edinburgh Festival to do it for two weeks in August. So it's that, that kept me going. That was, that was the main thing. did also start a podcast with another comedian called Rachel Creeger. Uh, so that was called Jew Talkin' To Me?. And it's basically, uh,
Rabiah Coon (Host): um,
Philip Simon: talking.
So you have couple of guests and we talk about their lives and experiences growing up Jews.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah. So you got, got up to a lot, but, um, as far as the charity, I mean, I think not everyone would think that way though, that they shouldn't profit for themselves. How'd you choose FareShare versus something else?
Philip Simon: I chose FareShare, mainly [00:29:13] because of the work they're doing to help feed children. So quite famous during lockdown that our government stopped supporting children who needed school meals. Well, they weren't in school, so why were they going to get school meals? But that meant that parents who were homeschooling them having to find extra money they weren't expecting to have to find.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Um,
Philip Simon: Rashford who's a very famous footballer, I'm told, uh, he started this and really got on it with government. And he's an ambassador for FareShare. when I was looking for a charity I wanted something benefited children. So they couldn't ring fence the money. It can't just go for children, but they do assure me that the meals that they provide statistically generally go to families and that
Rabiah Coon (Host): yeah.
Philip Simon: you're benefiting children.
But I was just appalled at the way our government treated the children who [00:30:13] were, I would say some of the worst effected in a way that we won't even know for half a generation. Who knows, but just seeing my own three and five-year-old, and we live in nice area, nice house. Got a garden. We got playing fields around the neighborhood. Parks space.
So we can even at the height of lockdown, we could get out the house and we could exercise and we could do all the things we were legally allowed to do... Because we're not in the cabinet. So, um,
Rabiah Coon (Host): yeah, no, parties. Right? So.
Philip Simon: no, parties at all. Um, w yeah, we, we, even, we had a children's entertainer come to the house to be in the front garden for my son's birthday.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Hello?
Philip Simon: of us. My came as well. She was in our bubble. So this was five of us sat on the driveway watching this children's entertainer, entertain. [00:31:13] People, walking past going, what the hell is going on? So we stuck to the rules, Boris. Anyway, not important, very important. Um, so, yeah, I, I, I think for me, I, I wanted the charity to be about children because the children were the ones that donated their jokes.
And I just, I just didn't feel that I could really monetize it for myself because I'd done a, um, what's that crowdfund what's that thing is that
Yeah.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Like Crowdfunder.
Philip Simon: Yeah. I
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah.
Philip Simon: to help get, get it off the ground and that helps. And that money went towards some of the printing costs and paying for the cartoons and everything else.
And, yeah, I think it was, it was important to me that I didn't look like I was cashing in, on their goodwill.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah.
Philip Simon: What an idiot. [00:32:13]
Rabiah Coon (Host): No.
Philip Simon: It's with regret you're fired.
Rabiah Coon (Host): I, I don't know. I I'm a lot of people who are on this podcast and I talk about a lot about giving back, so I think it's great, but yeah, sometimes it'd be nice to all keep our money,
you know, to.
Philip Simon: thing is my wife was working throughout lockdown. So, we had an income. She's a key worker. So there was money coming in. Yes, I lost a stupid amount of money in terms of work, but I was able to do other things. I was able to do the Zoom things. And we had, we had support, I had some government support as a self-employed person, so it didn't really feel like I was on the bread line in the way that loads of other people were and rightly or wrongly,
I decided. You know, I'm benefiting from the shows now. So when I do the live shows, [00:33:13] people buy tickets and that comes to me I'd go into schools and I do, I do some workshops with kids now where I do some of these shows and we get the kids up telling jokes, and I've done
Rabiah Coon (Host): uh,
Philip Simon: Zoom ones and I've done some live ones.
They pay for those, so I am monetizing it in that respect, but the joke book just felt like it had to be almost like a pure project.
Rabiah Coon (Host): yeah.
Philip Simon: And once it's there, can get it reprinted and reprinted of any, if I need to. And I can smoke as don't mind our living room being full of joke books again, because they sell well at Christmas, you know, on the website, they sell very well.
Uh, philip simon dot co dot uk forward slash shop. They sell incredibly well, but I'm taking them to gigs now and people are supportive. I talk about it at the end of my set, i, I allow sort of three to four minutes to talk about the joke book and I tell some jokes from the book and there's a lovely kind of bit that I'm [00:34:13] able to do with it.
And the audiences are happy to support the arts. They're happy to support a charity. want to take something home for their kids. I did Hot Water Comedy Club in Liverpool, which is one of the best comedy clubs in the UK, but certainly say the best in Liverpool. And then I think in one night there, I sold about a hundred books.
And that was because that was because, so nights there I sold, I sold a hundred books. And that was because the security guards were making people buy books. were so but the people coming out were supportive as well. They've all got kids or nieces or nephews or, and they're just really supportive.
So I'm really pleased I did it because it gave me a focus in lockdown and it's
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah.
Philip Simon: to focus on now, when I do other shows. I can now do my own grown-up comedy I can also invest in doing some children's shows as well.[00:35:13]
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah. Well, and that is, I don't know if that's a challenge for you, but I know for me, just some of my friends' kids and my niece, my nephew, my one nephew is 17 now so he wants to hear some off jokes, right? He he's longs for that but the little kids. I have my one, my one friend that kids always like, right,
like tell me a joke. And I go, tell me one of your jokes. I'm like, I can't, you know, even if it's not dirty, you're not going to get it. And so I'm definitely going to be buying one just because I need to bring them some jokes back or just, just for me to have them on hand. But I think it is cool because kids do have a sense of humor and they do appreciate stuff.
Philip Simon: They do. And actually during lockdown, it was really important for kids to be laughing. know some people were on their own during lockdown, they're only children so have siblings to play with. They didn't have friends to play with. And I know quite a few of them were watching the shows on a daily basis when we did the live.
I had jokes sent in from America, Germany. You know, there people were [00:36:13] sending in jokes from all over. Some of them
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah.
Philip Simon: the way. Some of the jokes were awful, but, but mostly they were editable into some form of coherent joke. And the kids get credited as well so when I'm telling the
they all get their name and their age put up on the screen.
And in the joke book, it's got their name and their age as well. And it's, it's lovely. It's a really, it's a really nice kind of community feel to it.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah.
Philip Simon: So, yeah, it's, it's good.
Rabiah Coon (Host): I'm just not imagining you like watching a kid, tell a joke and then just heckling the kid. That's a terrible joke.
Philip Simon: Well, my, I do get my son to workshop jokes if he comes up with something. So, we, a weekly joke contest that I enter. And they, they always give you a theme. Yesterday, the theme was mirrors. And the joke I came up with was, um, I always [00:37:13] use mirrors when I make love, because sometimes you have to take a long, hard look at yourself. And I showed that to my wife and she laughed and I submitted it. I didn't win. I now know. Livid. But son was like, what, what joke did you submit? What joke did you say? I said, I can't, I'm really sorry. I can't tell you, but why didn't you see, you've got a better joke that you can tell. So he told me a joke.
I can't remember what it was now. Otherwise this story would have been cracking, but I can't tell you what, I can't remember what it was, it was sort of halfway there.
but instead of patronizing him and going, so good, well done, I was like, I think that the premise, what you'll come up with is amazing.
That's really clever. I maybe if we just tweak the ending. You know, the five-year-old if he's telling me a joke, then I'll just laugh. His was, why did the, I think it was like, why did the clock cross the road [00:38:13] get to the mirror on the other side? That was his, that was his attempt. So that's not, I'm not, I said, I said, you know what?
It's brilliant. not going to submit it because it's not actually, actually but it's brilliant. Um,
Rabiah Coon (Host): It's funny.
Philip Simon: it's
Rabiah Coon (Host): stupid.
Philip Simon: a five-year-old said it. if
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah. Well, if you would've said it.
Philip Simon: me, 43 year old, they be like, what is this? Like my, my favorite, I know this, isn't the point of the podcast. My, my favorite one, um, is, uh, I, I teach them knock, knock jokes, which is classic. We all love a knock knock joke. And, um, there's a, quite a well-known one I'm sure you must know. Uh, we'll do it now. See if it
Rabiah Coon (Host): Okay.
Philip Simon: with the buffering. I dunno what, but let's try, "Knock, knock."
Rabiah Coon (Host): "Who's there?"
Philip Simon: "Interrupting cow."
Rabiah Coon (Host): "interrupting <Philip: moooo> cow who?
Philip Simon: Right? So you know, that joke. So I [00:39:13] told my son loved it, really found it hysterical. this was when he was about five or six, I guess. refound is hysterical and he was telling it all over the place. Absolutely loved it. I said to him, why don't we try it with a different animal? What do you think you went?
Yeah, we did this "knock, knock."
Rabiah Coon (Host): "Who's there?"
Philip Simon: "Interrupting sheep."
Rabiah Coon (Host): "interrupting shape who? <Philip: moooo>"
Philip Simon: he forgotten to change the sound. So he, he doesn't, he didn't at that stage quite get, um, the humor, but he loves jokes. He doesn't like, they never watched the show. For them, it was a break from me, their deputy head teacher, um, teaching them. so then they never watched the show. A couple of times they to be part of the filming, but they didn't have the, the kind of staying power to do it.
So I did the filming post [00:40:13] homeschooling and they watched TV.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah. Yeah. And get a break from you.
Philip Simon: And that, that was actually quite weird because then I'm basically, I've come into this room here entertain other people's children whilst neglecting my own children next door.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Right. Well, this is the first time this has ever happened to me on this podcast, but I have no idea what I even asked you in the first place. So
Philip Simon: I
Rabiah Coon (Host): that's great.
Philip Simon: It was, how are you?
Rabiah Coon (Host): Oh, where, where am I talking to you from? Um, okay, well, no, but that's great.
And it's good. You were able to do all that. Oh, it was about the charity. That's what it was, but
I think it's, I think it's great that you did that. So as far as doing the podcast, I mean, I started a podcast too. What do you like about doing your podcast and why'd you pick that subject of Jewish people talking to each other basically?
Philip Simon: I think what's, what I liked about doing the podcast when we started is different from now, because when we started, it was during
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah.
Philip Simon: and we had access to people and time was much [00:41:13] freer. it was really nice way to sort of be in other people's homes. There were four of us. So two hosts, actually, five of us.
We had a producer as well. So two hosts, one producer, and then two guests, sometimes all over the world. We did one someone was in London and someone else was in Jamaica. did one where someone was in another person was in Israel. So lots of different people. We're coming into their homes and we're talking to them.
Sometimes we're talking to a celebrity-level people that we're like, not only are we talking to, you were inside your home. is amazing. Um, and also it was a, was a that we felt hadn't been done, or even a chat show that hadn't been done. There's not bizarrely, although people think control the media, there's not actually a lot of Jewish output. And even if you look at what Jewish stuff there is at the moment, it's quite secular. So [00:42:13] Friday Night Dinner, which is a great sitcom about Friday night dinner, but actually not overtly Jewish. So that could be Sunday lunch. There's grandma's house, Simon Amstell. Brilliant comedy. Really great sitcom. Fantastic characters in casting everything about it. But it's considered a Jewish sitcom without having much if any Jewish content at all. There's one on, I think it's on Netflix now, Hapless, which just having a second series at that moment, I think, or just filming at the moment and that I that's a Jewish sitcom for sure.
that was so well hidden when it was first out, it was, you could have easily missed it. but we had the writer of that as one of our guests, was great. And a couple of the, a couple of the people who've been in it as well. It was just really nice to get people together to talk not about serious Jewish stuff and not about Israel, which seems to be what [00:43:13] people want to talk about when they hear us talking about Jewish stuff.
But we were talking about what their favorite Jewish foods were and what their favorite Jewish arguments were. Um, do they have a favorite, a famous Jewish connection that is interesting? It was things like that. It was a lot of fun to do. Now since the podcast has grown and we now know we're in the top 5% of podcasts, which is very exciting and don't go looking at those numbers.
Um, it's, it's just very nice to see that we've got a bit of a following. We've got a Patreon with it as well. And there's some, a little bit of money coming in for that, which just means we can, uh, not earn anything ourselves, because it
Rabiah Coon (Host): okay.
Philip Simon: kind of put back into
covering the setup costs. As I'm sure, you know, the setup costs can be quite high.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yes.
Philip Simon: and it can lead to live shows, which is something we're talking about as well, because especially in the Jewish conference [00:44:13] world, there's potential to go and do those, which could take us all over the world possibly. But it's just a really nice to have a chat pass the time with some friendly people.
We were doing all the editing and everything ourselves. So was quite a good learning curve.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah.
Philip Simon: Our, our outputs over lockdown was huge a result. So yeah, what was the question?
Rabiah Coon (Host): It was, what do you like about doing the podcast?
Philip Simon: Nothing. I hate that
it's Waste of time. No one listens to podcasts.
Rabiah Coon (Host): It requires having a memory, which we both now shown we don't have, which is great. So I hope someone, maybe I'll read the transcript to know what this conversation's about at this point.
Philip Simon: Yeah, exactly.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah.
Philip Simon: going "What was the question?" and you going, "oh right, What was the question?"
Rabiah Coon (Host): Right. And so, Philip, in addition to the work you're doing in [00:45:13] comedy and on your podcast, you also teach part-time correct?
Philip Simon: Well sort of, I've been doing, I guess, it's sex education for, um, gosh, about 15 years, probably. I didn't consider it to be a part-time job as more of a hobby. Basically I used to work with a charity many years ago called the Jewish AIDS Trust, which was specifically set up to assist people in the Jewish community that had AIDS, but also they then had uh, an education program that went into schools, teaching about
STIs, safe, sex, um, puberty. Whatever year you're at, whatever school year you were in, there was something to teach. Um, so I've been doing that for the past 15 or so years as one of their facilitators. And it's one of the jobs that I was doing between acting jobs to help me survive. As comedy took off and I didn't need to be doing [00:46:13] the sideline jobs anymore, this was the one I felt quite passionate about because it was a chance to pass on some really useful knowledge and information to the school children that will hopefully protect them and their friends in the future. So I it's weird. I, I, I don't feel like it's a job. I mean, I get paid for it. It's really awful to say, I don't need to do it.
I just, I enjoy doing it. And I think there's something about the nature of the work that's important to do because certainly, especially within the Jewish community, there was a lot of sheltered upbringings and beliefs, maybe 15 years ago that aren't as common now, but people didn't assume that Jews could get STIs or unwanted pregnancy and things like that. And actually it's important to shatter those myths. It's all age [00:47:13] appropriate. So for the younger children; puberty and relationships and boundaries. We talk about internet safety, bullying, anti-bullying hopefully, um, anti-Semitism because obviously we go into the Jewish schools. So we talk about things that cyber safety. It's, it's all encompassing.
We see kids from year five up to year 13. So whatever life stage they're at is all relevant.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah. And well, it's interesting too. I remember my sex ed class, and it was the only time anyone talked to me. It was in seventh grade and my mom still has never said a word about it, really, you know? She makes it assumption things have happened at some point, but it's funny how in certain families too, you're never going to get any education, never going to get commentary on it.
And so it was super important just to even have that.
Philip Simon: I think on the one hand, parents are happy for it to be outsourced to the school to do because then they don't have to have that embarrassing conversation. And also the schools outsource it to [00:48:13] us. The organization that I work for, they, they outsource it to them because then they don't have to do it.
And certainly in a religious school, it's easier for them say, well, it's on the curriculum, but we don't want to talk about it, but we still have to do it so let's bring in these people to do it. And then we can almost wash our hands of it. It's done. Everyone's happy and they've complied with the curriculum.
But one thing we say to the children is at the end of the session, go home and talk to your parents. They know you're having these classes. They're not a surprise. In some schools, they do a parents chat as well where the parents come in and the organization actually talks to them to say what they're going to be teaching the children.
And, um, and I say you go and talk to your parents. They don't want to have that conversation with you any more than you want to have that conversation with you because it's awkward and embarrassing and they're little baby's growing up, but it's important. You should feel comfortable to ask the questions [00:49:13] that, that you want to ask. But I find it a very rewarding way to spend my time to go and stand in front of a class. Because I'm not a teacher and, I mean, homeschool definitely proved that I am not a but I am a facilitator. And when I stand up in front of an audience and I do stand up or I compere, that's exactly what I'm doing when I do these classes because you have to think on your feet. The kids ask questions, which we allow, we, we encourage. They're not getting get in trouble for saying dirty words,
or naughty words or anything like that, because they're in context of what we're talking about. As long as they take it a bit more seriously than they might at the age of was it year five, year six, year seven. So, it's a very rewarding way to spend my time. And it has also helped with the comedy because I did used to do an entire routine about some of the questions that the children ask because they, [00:50:13] we give them a scrap of paper and they can write anonymous questions so that nobody knows it was them who asked the question. And I read out some of them in the, in my standup, which out of context, they're very funny questions. In context, they make perfect sense, the types questions people are asking. And actually individually, some of them are very interesting questions that might well make you go that's. I hadn't thought about that. Like one of the was, um, uh, they wanted to know if it was true that black people had black sperm. And if you take that out of the comedy context, that's very, really interesting question that if you don't know much general anatomy and the way the body works, and you also live quite a sheltered life in a particular community, why is it so outrageous that you would ask or think that, that kind of a question? And isn't it better that you ask asking? And find the [00:51:13] answer, then go through your life. assuming that everyone's body fluids are different colors?
And, uh, so things like that are quite amusing. I have to sometimes remember that I'm not in standup mode. I, I once said something that was me in compere mode and not in teacher mode, because I think what the question was, um, something like, uh, I'm hoping I can say these words on your podcast, actually, you might want to
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah, I just, I can tick the tick, the explicit box.
Philip Simon: Right.
So one of the questions was, is it wrong for a man to masturbate with another man? And I said, I mean, I'm working, so it's not ideal. And that fortunately, the teacher laughed. The kids didn't quite get the nuance of it. But you, you do have to be careful.
Um, [00:52:13]
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah.
Philip Simon: So one of the kids wrote on a piece of paper, can I date you? Now what they meant by that was I'm a boy. Can I date another boy? And once we drill down into that, that's what it meant. That's but obviously if they're writing, can I date you that opens up a whole can of worms that needs to be investigated and safeguarding issue.
So it, it's a really interesting job to do, and I'm very, I'm proud of the work that we do doing it as well.
Rabiah Coon (Host): That's that's good. And it does sound rewarding. You helping, helping kids out and also just how you got into it in the first place. So nice.
Well, so on, on this podcast, which I know you don't listen to podcasts, but just so you know, you've, you've been listening to half of one anyway, when I've been talking, one thing I do at the end is just ask the guest. If they have any advice or mantra they want to share with people just in general, it could be about anything.
Philip Simon: I'm often asked by people in the [00:53:13] industry, what my advice is because as I go back to The Comedy School and do talks them, I'm often asked one bit of advice I would give to new acts on the circuit. And I always say the same thing to them. And I imagine I could say the same things where anyone that's generally just don't be a dick.
Um, get called out. You'll get caught out. It's very small circuit. Everyone knows everyone, that kind of thing. I guess a mon, a mon mantra, mantra, I've gotten American a mantra for life. Sorry. it's in my head now. A mantra for life, I used to think of. It's kind of a regrets, you know, live your life.
No regrets. And I look back and go, I so busy telling people to have no regrets I did nothing with my life. Um, so don't know. Pick your battles, I guess that's what I've definitely learned since having kids. Pick your battles. am terrible at that. They say no, because it seems to me, uh, my battles are the, the ones I [00:54:13] pick are the only ones my son picks, picks with me.
I used to have a joke which never worked on stage really where I said, ah, they always say, pick your battles. Uh, and I chose Hastings 1066. So whenever I have a fight with my son, I'd poke him in the eye. Never works on stage because people thought I genuinely my son in the eye. Uh, I don't know what was the question?
just, just be, just be nice.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah,
Philip Simon: I I've put stuff on TikTok I did a video yesterday about the new Doctor Who. know if you saw the video if, you know, but, but there's an
Rabiah Coon (Host): I did.
Philip Simon: Sex Education called Ncuti Gatwa who is going to be the new Doctor Who. He's a fantastic actor. He's black. He's gay. He's an actor.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah.
Philip Simon: he got the job. He's an actor. But I put a thing on basically taking the mick saying, oh, it's diversity gone [00:55:13] mad. It's ridiculous. I can't believe it. Yet again, absolute ridiculous that Doctor Who the time lord once again, being played by a human. Right, clearly a joke and the amount of hate it's gar, it's garnering on Tik...
I mean, most of my videos, just for context, most of my videos will get a couple of hundred views. Maybe a couple of thousand views. Maybe at a push 10,000 views. This currently is that 250,000 views.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah.
Philip Simon: It's lud... And this, since yesterday,
Rabiah Coon (Host): Wow.
Philip Simon: even keep up with the comments they're so ridiculous. Some are, some are very abusive, not about me, but about, um, about Ncuti.
But some of it is just like, what... it's fictional. It's like
basically a children's TV show. Get a grip. Um. And I just think if you haven't got anything nice to [00:56:13] say, get off TikTok. That's my advice.
Rabiah Coon (Host): That's good advice. That's good advice. Yeah, it's ridiculous. I mean, wait until the new James Bond gets chosen, right? It's just going to be a mess because it's just people can't understand. And he is a really good actor. I love Sex Education. It's amazing.
Philip Simon: Yeah, and he's great in it. He's he plays every emotion in that show. He plays happy. He plays sad. He plays hurt, abused. He's you know, he is such a great actor.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah.
Philip Simon: did it a while ago, again. It was, I can't, I, I can't remember her name now. This is long time ago. We already know I have a bad memory, but a black actress was cast in the role of Ann Berlin a channel five docu drama about Amber Lynn.
And I put a video on TikTok saying, uh, something like, I can't believe, uh, all the people getting upset [00:57:13] about,
Rabiah Coon (Host): um,
Philip Simon: a, black person being cast in a white role then showed a load of pictures of Jesus and different depictions of him in movies over the years. The last one being Brian from the life of Brian. So clearly it's a joke. And
Rabiah Coon (Host): Uh,
Philip Simon: led to so much hate. I'm a snowflake, I'm a, a woke, warrior. know, it's like, oh, get a grip. Clearly these are jokes. My name on
Rabiah Coon (Host): yeah,
Philip Simon: media is philipscomedy, you know? and they're the best comeback they've got is uh... "Where's the comedy?" In the joke, mate. It's in the joke.
Rabiah Coon (Host): yeah,
Philip Simon: are unnecessarily, offensive, racist, homophobic, transphobic, misogynistic in a way they wouldn't be openly in public.
And why, why?
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah. Well, it's funny too, because I, I like when I get called woke, [00:58:13] I'm like, okay,
like, I'm glad you're seeing me, you know? I'd rather be.
Philip Simon: I put a video out saying, sorry, I'm not sure what I'm missing here. What, what, what is so bad about being woke? And no one could tell. It's a label it's like calling someone to Karen, which is very unfair because sometimes you genuinely have to complain about something and as soon as you
Rabiah Coon (Host): yeah,
Philip Simon: it with a label like Karen, know, Um, yeah, it's just, it's just a label used to put people in their
Rabiah Coon (Host): yeah,
Philip Simon: ridiculous.
Rabiah Coon (Host): yeah. I agree. Okay, so that was good advice. There was a lot there.
So thank you.
Philip Simon: concise. Hey, here's some more advice, don't say two words. If you can talk for 20 minutes.
Rabiah Coon (Host): So you tell you when you do a 45 minute set, do you just really just say, tell one joke, is that what happens?
Philip Simon: just take questions [00:59:13] and then by the end of it, I forgotten what the question was anyway.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Great.
Philip Simon: Yeah.
Rabiah Coon (Host): So this last bit is called the Fun Five and it's just the questions I ask every guest. So, uh, what's the oldest t-shirt you have and still wear?
Philip Simon: I have a t-shirt that I have from when I was on my gap year in Israel. I was on a kibbutz called Kibbutz Lotan. It's in the south, right of the desert and I worked in maintenance, bizarrely. And I loved it. Absolutely loved it there. Uh, we were meant to stay for three months and I ended up staying an extra month because I didn't want to do anything else that they were offering.
So I stayed really. Loved it. And it's a, t-shirt where wording of Lotan which is written in Hebrew, made with palm trees. And I still wear it now is as a pajama top cause I couldn't wear it for anything else. It's [01:00:13] too baggy. No one will allow me to wear it out in public, but it's really comfortable.
I was on my gap year in 1997/98 so that's how old this t-shirt is. So yeah, that, that's my oldest t-shirt
Rabiah Coon (Host): Nice.
Philip Simon: for a long time and sad thing about video recordings over lock down has been seeing how rarely I changed my clothes.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah. I, well, even for me, if I look at my website now and see what I wear on the podcast and things just reappear. It looks like I have five shirts and
always have it. I'm always cold because I'm always wearing a jacket of some sorts. It's ridiculous. . I get it. So during lockdown, it seemed a lot like Groundhog's Day, like in the movie. So if it really was, what song would you have your alarm clock play every morning?
Philip Simon: I don't know how to answer this question because it's not a song that I like, but used to have, as my wake up alarm on my phone was [01:01:13] the theme tune to West Wing, is my favorite TV show.
And it so well, I became immune to it, I guess. So didn't really wake me up. And ultimately, whoever I might've been sharing a bed with at the time would be more likely to be woken up by that than I was and I'd be woken up by them. So I don't know if there's a song that kind of speaks to me or anything like that that helps to answer that question. But I guess I, now, if I ever hear that music, I'm triggered to kind of wake up. If I'm going to watch an episode of West Wing, they, most of these things start with previously on and then you've got the bit, and then it goes into the theme
Rabiah Coon (Host): yeah.
Philip Simon: I'd be watching that and then the themes you would go and I love like right, gotta get up! Work! School! Kids get up!
So.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Okay, so the thing, well, that's, that's a new one. I haven't, that's definitely not something I've had, so [01:02:13] hopefully it's on Spotify and I can add it to my list. Coffee or tea or neither?
Philip Simon: Coffee. Yeah. it. Coffee.
Rabiah Coon (Host): That's it.
Philip Simon: Yeah. I do drink tea, but coffee.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Okay. And can you think of a time? I mean, hopefully you can, because you're a comic, but that you laughed so hard, like you cried or just couldn't stop laughing or something that just does that to you when you think about it?
Philip Simon: I am a terrible Corp, sir. So if I'm on stage and I find something funny, I won't be able to stop laughing at it. And that's more if I'm in a play than if I'm ... I sometimes laugh during my set if I've told you a joke that the audience is laughed at, but they've laughed in such a way that makes me. But I can control that. I did a play many years ago, uh, at the Theatre Royal in Windsor. And there was an actor who we used to be in a sitcom called "Allo, Allo", which is quite a
Rabiah Coon (Host): Okay.
Philip Simon: here. I don't know how
Rabiah Coon (Host): [01:03:13] didn't. Yeah.
Philip Simon: he was quite famous. Uh sitcom at the time, he... really lovely guy, really, really, um, nice doddery elderlyish man.
And, um, he, it was a murder mystery and he had to he had to put out of a suitcase, a dagger and say he was stabbed with this. Only he pulled out a dagger and said he was strangled with this and I in my character, because I was playing the
Rabiah Coon (Host): Um,
Philip Simon: sidekick policeman, in my character I could have gone "you mean stabbed sir," like that. But didn't because I was too busy laughing. I couldn't, I had to bite my lip. When I mentioned it to him afterwards, he didn't even realize he had done it. And I said,
Rabiah Coon (Host): yeah,
Philip Simon: oh, I, should have said something.
Maybe I should have said that
Rabiah Coon (Host): yeah,
Philip Simon: You know? Uh, I think you mean stabbed, [01:04:13] sir. And he went, oh no, don't be silly that the audience won't have noticed either. Look at them. It was, it was like a Saturday matinee. They were all, they're called the blue rinse brigade. It's,
Rabiah Coon (Host): yeah.
Philip Simon: all lovely people, but they're not gonna catch the minor details. Finer details.
Rabiah Coon (Host): That's good. That's it? That's ridiculous. I used to go see like films, like the matinee and this in Midtown Manhattan. And it would look like a parking lot with all the walkers and stuff in the back. So I know exactly the crowd, but I'd be the one falling asleep in the theater ironically, but yeah. All right, and last one. Who inspires you right now?
Philip Simon: Oh, I hate this question. No one. Um, so, um, anyone who's doing anyone who's doing what they want to do right now inspires me. I'm such a believer that life is yours, and if you're not happy doing what you're doing then do something else. [01:05:13] And when I see someone who is taking that plunge to do something they want to do, even if it's at the expense of their security for job or whatever, if... So, when I see someone starting a new life as a or as an actor, writer, whatever, they're shunning the safety net that they've built up, in awe of that, I didn't really do it that way. I, I went straight into that. So whilst people look at me and have said, oh, I can
Rabiah Coon (Host): Oh,
Philip Simon: what you do.
Oh, it, was brave. I don't really see that in myself so much. Um, sister, I think at the moment, my younger sister, who is, she's on her own, she's in New York and she's just had a baby. Uh, it's something she wanted to do for many years. She tried for a long time and was down to like last couple of attempts.
And finally it took, and she's just had a baby. And we went out there [01:06:13] to visit a few weeks ago. And I
Rabiah Coon (Host): Um,
Philip Simon: her. And I mean, first I think she's mental. But I am I'm in all of someone who again just said, do you know what? This is what I want. This is what it's going to take to get it. This is what I might have to sacrifice to get it. And although it's not necessarily journey I would have expected to take or the journey, my parents would have expected me to take, that for her was as important as the end result. And I see her now with her beautiful son and they are amazing together. She is just, you know, in, in America they get much less time maternity as I'm sure you know. So,
my wife was able to take a year of maternity leave, all told, um, my sister had four months that was only because her work kindly gave her an extra month. I think people like that [01:07:13] kind of inspire me when I see people just ticking along.. happy. Not doing what they want to do. Not thinking about a better way of being happy.
And I don't mean to sound preachy because there's lots of reasons people don't. I just feel sorry. I feel, I think I'm very blessed and I'm very lucky that I knew what I wanted to do since I was 12. My parents were supportive, they were realistic. So they had to get a degree and I had to finish school and all that, but they were very supportive. they still are. So I think, yeah, when I see people who are just being true to themselves, that, that inspires me.
My sister at the moment, she's the one I could look at and go, "you're amazing." I mean, we're not, it's not something I'd ever say to her, but she listened. I'll tell you this, listen to the podcast. Um, but yeah, I, I think what [01:08:13] she has, uh, what she has achieved is... I couldn't do that. I'll say that right now.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah.
Philip Simon: I struggled parenting and I've got a wife who is us, we do very well together. But I, I doing it by herself. And I think she's amazing.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Awesome. Cool. And last thing, how do you want people to find you?
Philip Simon: I would like people to find me on a beach somewhere with a piña colada in one hand. Um, I on all social media at philips comedy (@philipscomedy) so it's very easy to find me. philipscomedy has got one "L". I'll let you decide where.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Okay..
Philip Simon: Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, probably LinkedIn. YouTube. All of that. School's Out Comedy Club is the kids joke show.
[01:09:13] I'm really proud of that. So even if you don't buy the joke book, and I think you should buy the joke book, but if you don't buy the joke book, at least maybe entertain your children. Subscribe to the YouTube channel, uh, come and see a live show. If you, if you see I'm doing it somewhere near
Rabiah Coon (Host): okay
Philip Simon: if you don't see I'm doing it near you, invite me. I might come. Or if you, if you work in a school or something like that, I'll come and do it for your kids as well. Jew Talkin' to Me is the podcast. So that's myself and fellow comedian, Rachel Creeger. Uh, and it's Jew Talkin' without the G Talkin to Me. well, so I waited on about, I don't know.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Fringe.
Philip Simon: Oh my goodness. Yes, Fringe. I'm going to be at the Edinburgh Festival. So I'm going to be at the Edinburgh festival. I'm taking School's Out Comedy Club for two weeks from the 5th to the 18th at 10:00 AM at the Surgeon's Hall, the Space.
But it's a kids' show. I'd [01:10:13] say five plus probably. I'll be there for two weeks.
I'm also doing Jew-o-Rama which is a Jewish compilation show. I host it and we get Jewish comedians. We normally allow one non-Jewish comedian on just to make them feel better about themselves. Um, uh, that is Whistlebinkies at 5:15p also, throughout the Fringe. I'm only there till the 18th. The show will continue beyond that, but School's Out Comedy Club for those days of 5th through the 18th.
And I will be living whilst I'm in Edinburgh, under a rock for a million pounds a day.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Great. Well, well, people will be able to catch you one way or another then. You can see your controversial TikToks as well. I think they should do that.
Don't don't just see the controversial TikToks on them. Like share them. Because there's no, there's nothing more fun than trolling the trolls.
That's true. [01:11:13] All right. I'll probably do that after this. So, uh, thanks so much for being on Philip I really appreciate it. It was nice chatting with you.
Philip Simon: You too. Thanks for having me.
Thanks for listening. You can learn more about the guest and what was talked about in the show notes. Joe Maffia created the music you're listening to. You can find him on Spotify at Joe M A F F I A. Rob Metke does all the design for which I am so grateful. You can find him online by searching Rob M E T K E.
Please leave review if you like the show. And get in touch if you have feedback or guest ideas. The pod is on all the social channels at at more than word pod (@morethanworkpod) or at Rabiah Comedy (@rabiahcomedy) on TikTok. And the website is more than work pod dot com (morethanworkpod.com). While being kind to others, don't forget to be kind to yourself.
