Comedian Alexander Bennett: ‘My show has a unique form of audience participation’

Comedian Alexander Bennett’s new show, Emotional Daredevil, was described as “a very unique comedy experience” by Edinburgh Festivals Magazine.

We can’t reveal too much about what it is that makes it unique, of course, as that would ruin the surprise but, suffice to say, the Shrewsbury-born comic takes audience participation to a new level.

The show is about risk, for people unsatisfied with how things are going – and Alexander is taking a big risk every time he performs it.

Will his audience do the same when he comes to Cambridge later this week?

“It’s the first time I’ve ever toured a show like this,” notes Alexander – a fan of fellow comics Sean McLoughlin, Fern Brady, and Marc Maron – whose comedy has been variously described as “dark, silly, filthy, and thoughtful”.

“And it’s been really nice, because you set your own tone. It goes exactly how you want it to go because you’re in control of everything. It’s been really lovely.”

Elaborating on Emotional Daredevil – but not too much – Alexander says: “It involves a unique form of audience participation. It’s a comedy show but it gets quite deep, I think.”

He adds: “The show is on rails, to a certain extent – there is a show going on – but the way that it works is that there’s this constant variable and mystery element, which is ‘what is the audience putting into the show as well?’

“So it keeps me on my toes because there’s staging and there’s songs in the show – a lot of plates for me to spin – and then I’ve got this constant variable that can, within certain parameters, say or do anything.”

Alexander says he’s been a comedian “for a very long time” (he’s now 32 and started performing stand-up at the tender age of 15) but has never actually toured a show before.

“This just came together and it felt like the right one to do,” he explains, “and I got a lot of good advice on where to go and all that sort of carry-on…

“But it’s been really great; I’ve just put out the show previous to this online, on YouTube, and it’s doing quite well, numbers-wise, so it feels good to have ‘Here’s something you can watch for free, now come and see this tour show’.

“What I like about that is that the tour show is completely different to the thing that’s online.”

As he was a young teenager when he made his comedy debut, Alexander remembers having to go through the kitchen at a pub in Derby – the site of his first gig – as “you couldn’t have a 15-year-old walking into a pub”.

His favourite comedians and comedy shows growing up included The League of Gentlemen, The Mighty Boosh, and The Simpsons.

“Also my parents were really into Ronnie Barker sitcoms,” he recalls, “so I was a 13-year-old who absolutely loved Porridge…

“And then once my parents saw that, they went, ‘He’s a teenage boy, let’s get him all of Rik Mayall’s work, because that’s what’s appropriate’.

“So I was spoilt really, in terms of early noughties, incredible stuff on the telly, and then The Simpsons, possibly the best-written comedy show ever, just available to you on BBC2, and then all this really brilliant ’70s stuff.

“All the Ronnie Barker stuff and Fawlty Towers and things like that.”

Alexander is the co-host, along with comedian Andy Barr, and creator of the Chortle Award-nominated podcast Born Yesterday, which has had guests including Phil Wang, Jordan Gray, and John Kearns.

He has performed his shows on the West End at London’s Soho Theatre and at the Edinburgh Fringe among other places.

His work has been nominated as part of the Leicester Comedy Festival Awards and he has recently been featured in The Guardian and heard on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Alexander concludes: “British comedy is absolutely incredible; we’ve got more talent doing more interesting things than has ever happened, but a lot of it isn’t on TV, so I would just encourage people to go and see something weird live.”

Alexander will be performing Emotional Daredevil at the Cambridge Junction (J3) on Sunday, 13 April. Tickets, priced £18, are available from junction.co.uk. For more on Alexander, go to alexanderbennettcomedian.com.