“To Be Free is one of the most fluidly entertaining sets I have seen this year. (Amstell) is open, energetic, a smilingly smart force…a throbbing ego packed in brittle fragility…he wants us to feel his loneliness but in the process creates something utterly enveloping. Rarely is neediness this easy and satisfying to watch.” – Four Stars - The (London) Times

 PRESS RELEASE FOR FIRST US TOUR 2015

2015 – Award-winning British comedian, Simon Amstell, announces the first U.S. tour of his critically-acclaimed new show, To Be Free, kicking off April 14 in New York City.

A beautifully articulate storyteller, Simon is touring To Be Free to critical acclaim throughout the U.K. With intense vulnerability and troubling honesty, To Be Free explores freedom, joy, love, death, adventure, art, peace, sex, regret, success, eating, suffering, dreaming, healing, forgiving and other areas.

Simon’s previous show, Numb, was recorded as an intimate BBC TV special that premiered on December 31, 2012 and is now available on Hulu Plus. Numb toured theaters throughout the U.K., Sydney, Melbourne, San Francisco, Los Angeles and a sold-out five week run in New York City leading The New York Times to compare Simon to, “a young Woody Allen.”

Simon premiered his first hour-long TV special, Do Nothing, on BBC America in October 2012. Recorded at Vicar Street, Dublin, Do Nothing captures Simon at his intimate, painfully honest best. “Pin point timing... highly literate and charming... an endearing mixture of offhand candour and sharp wit,” raved critics.

Simon's award-winning comedy series, Grandma's House, ran for two seasons on BBC2 garnering ecstatic reviews. In the series, Simon plays a version of himself - the host of a massively popular entertainment show who has given it all up to pursue a more serious acting career, only to find himself living at home in the suburbs with his erectile dysfunction family.

Simon himself made a similar career move when he gave up his role as host of the BBC's enduring popular comedy panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks in 2009 after four seasons, during which time he graduated from cult hero to mainstream success.

Simon began performing stand-up in his teens, going on to become the youngest ever finalist of the BBC New Comedy Awards. He started his TV career on Nickelodeon in 1998, until he was fired for making pop stars uncomfortable. He soon found his niche as the co-host of the Channel 4 show, Popworld, where, ironically, he gained a huge following for his groundbreaking work in making pop stars uncomfortable.

Simon has won an RTS Award as well as a Broadcast Award, two British Comedy Awards and has been nominated for a BAFTA.

 For more on Simon visit www.SimonAmstell.com