On June 9th, comedian Jeff Simmermon will release his debut album, And I Am Not Lying, on Comedy Dynamics. And while Simmermon is a comedian, he’s worn many other hats, among them a member of an art rock band (Royal Quiet Deluxe) in which he played the typewriter as a percussion instrument in a band that also included live chickens pecking on toy pianos. It’s that band that once had a member of GWAR tell him “you’re not headlining material, but no one wants to go on after you.”
Another of the roles Simmermon held was booking a variety show at UCB, also titled And I Am Not Lying. It’s from that show that Simmermon tells a hysterical tale about one of the acts that played the show, Vomit Fist. Simmermon knew what he was getting into when he booked the grindcore trio for his show, but his story about the band, which consists of a father/son duo and another young singer, is a highlight of the album. Simmermon spoke with us about his show and the band:
My variety show at UCB East is such a labor of love. It’s a monthly show at midnight on the second Friday of every month. I love booking the acts, making the posters, hosting the thing, finding all the incredibly strange and exciting stuff that New York is supposed to be about and making it all work in one thrilling hour.My show is what I always thought NYC art was supposed to be: a bunch of weirdos doing something hilarious and insane in the middle of the night. It’s a perfect pause between a late dinner and drinks until dawn. I’ve had a bullwhip and lasso artist, an all-female mariachi band, a snake handler and a woman eating a lightbulb while telling jokes mined with some of my favorite comics.Vomit Fist is hands-down the most thrilling act I’ve ever had on the show. It’s really sweet to see them putting each other’s corpse makeup on before the show, and such a fun, family vibe mixed with brutal thrashing.
Listen to it below, you can preorder And I Am Not Lying, which comes out on Comedy Dynamics on June 9th, here. We’ve also included a Vomit Fist video in case you’re not familiar with the band.
