“An exciting departure from [his] previous work,” claims the publicity for Simon Amstell’s new standup show – but it’s a claim that proves hard to substantiate. Like any Amstell set, I Love It Here is self-analytical to an absurd degree – and this level of forensic solipsism, from this clever and funny a man, can’t help but be engaging. But departure it is not – and indeed, I found it frustrating how Amstell’s concerns have not moved on a jot in a show largely about his disappointment (“pain”, he would call it) that his crush on a famous singer isn’t reciprocated.
The abiding impression, of a show set at a star-studded Hollywood party, is of an artist whose life (and creative output) might benefit from a little more friction. We encounter Amstell at the start of this set blissful with his partner of 14 years, increasingly at ease with himself after overcoming shame. But an invitation to a Tinseltown bash, where his erstwhile teenage crush will be in attendance, brings out Simon’s wounded inner child. And so we’re pitched into a long anecdote in which fretful Amstell butterflies around with Baz Luhrmann, Viola Davis and Charli xcx, seeking to absolve his childhood agonies by coupling up with an unnamed pop hunk.
