Bringing some Enlightenment spirit to the Fringe

Simon Evans – stand-up comedian, Radio 4 regular and spiked columnist – is doing two daily shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year: Alas, Smith and Hume! and Footnotes to Smith. If you’re in Edinburgh and a fan of Simon’s hilarious, erudite spiked columns, you really won’t want to miss these.

In these comedic lectures, Simon brings to life the ideas and debates that animated the Scottish Enlightenment.

The afternoon show, Alas, Smith and Hume!, is a mischievous celebration of the friendship between Adam Smith and David Hume. They debated politics, philosophy and psychology, before the latter term had even been invented. Their ideas prefigure not just Darwin and Freud, but also Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, Simon argues.

In the evening, Footnotes to Smith explores the ‘aftershocks’ of Smith’s thought, including the debates that still rage today – such as over planning vs the free market, and if we should celebrate or scorn the super rich.

Simon’s aim is to recall an era of ‘extraordinary flowerment of intellect, of scientific and technological progress, and a massive unleashing of talent’. The values of the Scottish Enlightenment, he says, could offer the way out from today’s tit-for-tat culture-warring and stifling political correctness.

Both shows are being held at Panmure House, where Adam Smith spent the last 10 years of his life. The shows are being held everyday (apart from Mondays) until 25 August.

You can get tickets to Alas, Smith and Hume! here and Footnotes to Smith here.