Simon Evans Will Embark on UK Tour in 2026

BBC Radio 4 stalwart and veteran of a quarter century of highly acclaimed stand-up comedy Simon Evans has announced a UK tour of his new stand up show Staring at the Sun with over 50 dates from January - June 2026.

Staring at the Sun sees Simon Evans (Live at The Apollo, Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow, Simon Evans Goes to Market, One Person Found This Helpful)  squinting at an uncertain future, revisiting the blue remembered hills of his youth and trying to stay human as the world around him gets smarter.

With the AI singularity looming and “reality” feeling increasingly unstable, Evans looks ahead to the coming shockwaves of technology, and back to the analogue pleasures of hitch-hiking, pub bets, and getting properly lost. Turning his famously dry, surgically precise style on the big modern questions: Are we living in a computer simulation? What happens when your body starts issuing software updates you didn't request? And is staring straight at a solar eclipse, against expert advice, actually an act of courageous self-sacrifice on the road to true enlightenment?

Part philosophical exploration, part nostalgic joyride, Staring at the Sun is a hilarious analysis of reality and trust  from a man desperately trying to keep his balance while the floor keeps moving. The tone is unmistakably Evans: provocative, literate, and playfully combative, but also soaked in self-awareness. Evans draws on theories propounded by philosophers and mystics since the days of Plato and Ecclesiastes, casting himself as a public intellectual but constantly undercutting his points with brutally funny domestic truths. 

Simon Evans is one of the UK's most respected and best loved comedians who has been at the top of his game for over twenty-five years. His TV credits include two appearances on BBC One's Live at The Apollo, one on Michael McIntyre's Roadshow, and a season of Channel 4's Stand Up for the Week. On BBC Radio 4 his series Simon Evans Goes to Market, delighting audiences with his witty and insightful take on the comedically-unpromising territory of economics, has had six seasons. He is also a regular on Radio 4's The News Quiz, and various other panel games, and from 1998 to 2002 wrote and hosted eight series of the news satire, The Way It Is. He also stars in One Person Found This Helpful – a Radio 4 show he co-devised with Jason Hazely and Pozzitive Productions, that has fun with on-line customer reviews and hosted Headliners – a regular preview of the following day's newspapers with two other comedians on GB News. Evans is also in demand as a columnist and has written extensively for The Spectator, The Telegraph and Spiked

Simon Evans: Staring at the Sun - 2026 UK Tour Dates

10th January - Kettering Arts Centre

17th January - Oxford Playhouse

18th January - Backyard Comedy Club, London

22nd January - Norden Farm (Courtyard Theatre), Maidenhead

24th January - Cambridge Junction

26th January - Steamworks, Sheffield

27th January - The Glee Club, Leeds

29th January - Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke

30th January - The Spring Arts Centre, Havant

31st January - The Attic, Southampton

1st February - Dorking Halls

2nd February - The Lights, Andover 

5th February - Granville Theatre, Ramsgate

6th February - The Joker, Chalkwell Park Rooms, Southend

8th February - Just the Tonic at Hansom Hall, Leicester (as part of Leicester Comedy Festival)

9th & 10th February - Norwich Theatre Playhouse

12th February - Hastings White Rock Theatre Studio

14th February - Lichfield Garrick

21st February - The Plough Arts Centre, Great Torrington

22nd February - Axminster Guildhall

24th February - The Tivoli Theatre, Wimborne

27th & 28th February - Leicester Square Theatre, London

11th March - Phoenix Arts, Borden

13th March - St Austell Arts Theatre

14th March - Tiverton Comedy Hall

15th March - Paignton Palace Theatre

25th March - Chelmsford Theatre

26th March - Peterborough Key Theatre

27th March - Huntingdon Hall, Worcester

28th March - The Alex, Faversham

31st March - Swindon Arts Centre

1st April - The Glee Club, Birmingham

2nd April - Redgrave Theatre, Bristol

3rd April - The Y Theatre, Leicester

7th April - Lowry, Salford

23rd April - Chorley Theatre

24th April - Morecambe Winter Gardens Theatre

25th April - Darwen Library Theatre

28th April - The Glee Club, Cardiff

29th April - The Theatre Chipping Norton

1st May - The Roper Theatre, Bath

2nd May - The Old Town Hall, Hemel Hempstead

13th May - The Old Fire Station, Carlisle

14th May - The Stand, Newcastle

15th May - Queen's Hall Arts Centre, Hexham

16th May - The Stand, Edinburgh

17th May - The Stand, Glasgow

21st May - West End Centre, Aldershot

22nd May - Forest Arts Centre, New Milton

23rd May - Portsmouth Guildhall

4th June - The Arc, Winchester

5th June - Cranleigh Arts, Guildford