“Just to be alive is a blessing most of mankind don’t get,” said comedian Tom Simons during his comedy act, offering an oddly inspirational tone to an otherwise confusing show.

On April 24, Tom Simons, otherwise known as famed YouTuber TommyInnit, took to the Boulder Theater stage for his comedy show: “Tommyinnit’s Guide to Survival.”

TommyInnit first found his popularity during COVID on streaming services Twitch and YouTube, amassing over 22.4 million followers across both platforms for his comedic content about Minecraft. However, as the Minecraft YouTube viewership has declined, Simons has expanded to a different genre of content: stand-up comedy.

2023 marked Simons’ first outbreak into comedy, touring the “Annoying At First” show across the United Kingdom. This show featured Simons’ retelling of his life story through song and skits. The show was then extended and toured across America, becoming “Tommyinnit: How to Become a Billionaire.”

Simons’s current show, touring across continents, is based on his satirical book “TommyInnit’s Guide to Survival.” The book offers not-so-helpful advice about how to survive “the cruel, cruel world out there.”

The show began at 8 p.m., with Tommyinnit opening for himself. All throughout the show, fans were incredibly interactive and dressed for the occasion. Many adorned outfits that paid homage to Simons’s Minecraft content. 

During the opener, Simons sang, danced, interacted with the audience and introduced a recurring bit — his Invisible Girlfriend. The Invisible Girlfriend was, as expected, invisible. She would ‘enter’ the stage and talk to Simons via voiceover. This original bit added a funny tone throughout the show. 

After intermission, Simons returned to the stage for Act 2, during which Simons was accompanied by famed streamer and YouTuber Jack Manifold. 

Similar to Simons, Manifold first saw a rise in popularity in 2020 for his Minecraft content. Since then, Manifold has amassed over 2 million followers across his YouTube and Twitch. 

Manifold and Simons took to the stage in a very fascinating way: scripted. Throughout the second act, the two comedians read from a script, adding originality to this stand-up show. The show, consequently, felt less like stand-up comedy and more like a play. 

During Act 2, Simons helps Manifold overcome his sadness of being a YouTuber by offering him five tips. Each piece of advice had its own song, skit and some scripted crowd work as well. Of course, the Invisible Girlfriend returned throughout the second act and the show ended with her ‘dancing’ to Medley’s “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.”

Simons’ show was certainly an original take on stand-up comedy and it will be interesting to see how his comedic voice continues to develop.