Simon Brodkin first came to fame as a character comedian, starring as the eponymous lead character in BBC Three’s Lee Nelson’s Well Good Show
More recently though, he has become better known for his various stunts and pranks.
They started when, in character as Lee Nelson, Simon Brodkin ‘stole’ a copy of his own DVD from HMV on Oxford Street, and was chased down the street by an actor dressed as a policeman. Then in March 2013, he ran onto the pitch at Goodison Park as his footballer character Jason Bent, and attempted to warm up with the Manchester City side, and in 2014 mingled with the England national team at Luton airport, dressed in a smart suit.
Things escalated in 2015, when he invaded Kanye West’s headline Glastonbury performance. And at the 2017 Conservative Party, he even handed Theresa May a P45.
But the stunt that got him worldwide headlines was in 2016, when he scattered golf balls with swastikas on them all over Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf resort in Scotland, when the soon-to-be-President came to visit.
However, Brodkin says that the hardest part of the stunt wasn’t getting past Trump’s security – it was finding someone who would print up hundreds of Nazi golf balls.
Now Simon Brodkin is returning to stand-up, but ditching the characters and performing as himself. Simon is performing his new show ‘100% Simon Brodkin’ at the Edinburgh fringe at the Pleasance Baby Grand from 31st July to 24th August, tickets can be found at edfringe.com.
