David Benson profile picture

David Benson

Actor/Writer in London, UK

About Me

..
Click here to get your own player.

www.davidbenson.info


I am an actor/writer, living in London.
I write and perform my own work mostly but am always interested in diversifying and working with other groups/artists.
I have seven shows in my repertoire at present, the first and best-known of which is Think No Evil of Us: My Life With Kenneth Williams.
I first performed this show in Edinburgh in August 1996.
It won me instant recognition, to my delight and surprise. The show went on to tour the UK through-out the remainder of 1996 and 1997 and played a three-week run at the Vaudeville Theatre in the West End of London in March 1998.
I thought that would be the show's final resting place; however I still perform it regularly, alongside my others, on tour round the U.K.
My great wish is to take the show to new audiences outside the U.Ks as with all my work.
My other shows are:
Mourning Glory (1998)

- a sardonic remembrance of the death and funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales
To Be Frank (2001)

- a meditation on the life and career of Frankie Howerd
Star Struck (2003)

- about the inadvisability of meeting your heroes; featuring a depiction of an all-star party thrown by Noel Coward with guests including Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Ethel Merman, Orson Welles, John le Mesurier, Eric Morecambe, Quentin Crisp, Groucho Marx and others.
Haunted Stage (2004)

- what lies behind our fascination with ghosts and ghost stories
It's a Plot! David Benson's Conspiracy Cabaret (2005)

with pianist/composer Alex Silverman - a musical look at how the world works, with special reference to the Evils of Fundamentalism (scientific, religious and political), String Theory, David Icke and the New World Order, 9/11 and the London Bombings, Iraq and my experiences working in a laundromat in Riverdale, the Bronx.
Why Pay More? (2006)

- written and performed for the 2006 this show is about the whole experience of doing shows at Edinburgh and about my persoanl Fringe history going back to 1983 when I was in student production that got one star in the Scotsman.David Benson's Christmas Party - Salisbury Playhouse (2006-7)

My Interests

My work. People. Making enough money to pay the rent. All the usual things: why are we here, eating, sex, honest communication with my fellow human beings, travelling.

I'd like to meet:

Anyone who wants to meet me, really.

Music:

Hear me sing!

www.myspace.com/bensonality



Frank
Ella
Peggy
Fred
Judy
Ethel

Duke
Basie

and all that good jazz.
Dino

Mel

Billie

Movies:

Wizard of Oz (1939), Oh! Mr. Porter (1937), Duck Soup (1933), It's a Gift! (1934), The Ladykillers (1955), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Swing Time (1936), The Band Wagon (1953), Harold and Maude (1971), The Railway Children (1970), Night of the Hunter (1955), Singin' In the Rain (1952), The Innocents (1961), 42nd Street (1932), The Cameraman (1929), Way Out West (1936), Sudden Fear (1952), It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), The Producers (1968), Adam's Rib (1950)

Television:

Hardly ever watch UK telly unless there is a good documentary or archive material. Really like BBC4. Apart from that, I appreciate clever, witty stuff like the League of Gents, Nighty Night. But as a rule I am allergic to television, mainly because I am so seldom on it myself. I like what Quentin Crisp said: 'Television is for being on, not for watching.'

Books:

Alice Through The Looking Glass, The Most of S.J. Perelman, Manners From Heaven (Quentin Crisp), Life's Rich Pageant (Arthur Marshall), The Art of Ruth Draper, Kenneth Williams Diaries, Boswell's Life of Johnson, Shakespeare, more...

Heroes:

Ruth Draper

Quentin Crisp

Samuel Johnson
Spike Milligan

Barry Humphries

Harpo Marx

Groucho Marx

Jack Benny
Eric and Ernie, Gerard Hoffnung, Mel Brooks, James Cagney, Frankie Howerd, Kenneth Williams , Buster Keaton, Peggy Lee, Arthur Lowe, Spencer Tracy, W.C. Fields many others...

My Blog

At war with Infowars

Thought you might be interested in a battle I have been having with the forces of darkness on an Alex Jones' Infowars comment thread. http://http://www.infowars.com/?p=1594 The article is now off th...
Posted by David Benson on Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:14:00 PST

Diana Inquest: an open and shut case?

from: www.waynemadsenreport.comFebruary 28, 2008 -- SPECIAL REPORT. Diana inquest reportedly a smokescreenWMR has learned from informed sources in Britain that the current inquest into the 1997 death ...
Posted by David Benson on Mon, 03 Mar 2008 08:27:00 PST

Is un-PC the new PC?

Tell me if I am being over-sensitive. God knows, I don't want to be anybody's victim. But today I was sitting on the bus flicking through London Lite, one of the free papers, and I came across an arti...
Posted by David Benson on Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:57:00 PST

Clayton Littlewood with David Benson as ’Leslie’ Between the Covers 26-2-08

Here is the only footage of Clayton and I doing our Leslie bit at the House of Homosexual Culture/Polari event Between The Covers. The camera ran out of gas a few minutes in, so this is all we have. ...
Posted by David Benson on Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:43:00 PST

The Bensonian Sound Archives

I have just added to my Home Page a podcast feature on which you will find a selection of recordings, old and new. I will be adding lots more to the list in the next few weeks.Thanks to Clayton for th...
Posted by David Benson on Tue, 01 Jan 2008 06:37:00 PST

On the radio with David Tennant and Julia Davis

Thought you'd like to know about a lovely radio job I did recently, to be broadcast on December 22nd on BBC Radio 4.My old friend Mark (League of Gentlemen) Gatiss wrote a good, funny part for me to p...
Posted by David Benson on Wed, 12 Dec 2007 11:55:00 PST

Christmas Party tour dates

Here are the dates for my tour-ette of the show I put together for Salisbury Playhouse last year - a Bensonian Christmas entertainment in which I am accompanied by my esteemed colleague ('Conspiracy C...
Posted by David Benson on Thu, 06 Dec 2007 03:33:00 PST

On the road again - tour dates

Here are my tour dates round the U.K. to the end of the year. I'm delighted to be adding my Christmas show, created for Salisbury Playhouse's 2006 festive season, to the repertoire, including one Lond...
Posted by David Benson on Sat, 13 Oct 2007 12:05:00 PST

Is MySpace being censored?

I've always thought of myself as being fairly well informed about what's going on in the world but I feel such a fool! Because it was only on Saturday, in conversation with my dear MySpace friend Clay...
Posted by David Benson on Tue, 25 Sep 2007 10:48:00 PST

Conspiracy theorist - moi?

I don't know about you but I am always rather suspicious when one of these terrorist events happen. I never think, 'Oh my God, isn't Islam awful?' or 'Why oh why don't the supposedly peaceful Muslims ...
Posted by David Benson on Fri, 06 Jul 2007 07:02:00 PST