Who: Scott Bennett
Where: The Comedy Store, Manchester
Why:
Everyone’s got a mate who’s just naturally funny. As in they’re not trying to be funny, or even necessarily chatting about funny stuff, but they just crack you up with their general demeanour and unintentionally hilarious quirks and intonations.
Scott Bennett’s performance is a bit like that – and I mean it in the most complimentary way. He is saying funny things, and obviously in a purposely funny way, but he’s so natural with it that it feels like a mate who’s just going off on one.
In fact he’s like the stage version of a long-time listener, first-time caller to a radio station who can’t wait to get a lengthy list gripes and puzzlements off his chest. Even the many belly laughs he receives are greeted with an incredulous: “Don’t laugh at that!”
Bennett is from Yorkshire and that figures. His rat-a-tat delivery is pacy and to the point, as if he’s got to cram as much as he possibly can into his 20-minute slot. But he certainly doesn’t fulfil the ‘dour’ stereotype. Every so often he cracks into a broad only messin’ grin.
Family clearly plays a big role in Bennett’s life and thusly his comedy. Anyone worthy of love is evidently worthy of pisstakery too. From dad Roy (who loves a bargain), his long-suffering wife (his perfunctory sex mime is great), to his two young lasses.
It’s never mean and always done with affection. Indeed, more often than not, Bennett himself is the punchline. It allows him to act out all the various parts, which he clearly relishes and is very good at. His camp female impersonations are especially good.
Whether it’s contemplating the absurdity of future OAPs listening to Stormzy and playing Call Of Duty, or recounting the embarrassment of accidentally slapping his child with a flailing appendage in a cramped swimming pool cubicle, Bennett is like that mate you can’t wait to see again.
We saw Scott Bennett at the Comedy Store in Manchester. You can find out more about his future dates here.
