I Am Coach

Teaching high school drama while running the varsity football program creates a peculiar kind of culture shock, and Marty Simpson spent a decade living right in the middle of it. The collision between theater kids and linebackers gives his set an easy, natural rhythm. He is sharpest when recounting the friction of directing Oscar Wilde plays in the spring after coaching fall teams to state championships at a conservative Christian school, dealing with overbearing parents who treat junior varsity games like the Super Bowl.

Recorded at the Dry Bar Comedy club in Provo, Utah, and released in 2020, the half-hour set leans into the family-friendly room. Beyond the locker-room and rehearsal stories, Simpson works through midlife domestic irritations, including misplaced keys and an unexpected run-in with a bat swarm. Simpson had already spent years headlining church circuits and corporate gigs after stepping down from coaching, and the set plays like a polished club version of his road act.