Scott Bennett is a busy guy at the moment, touring as he is with not one, but two shows; Blood Sugar Baby, a personal piece of storytelling about a family medical ordeal, and Stuff, which is presented more in his usual strand of Everyman comedy. In truth, I thought I was going to review the former at the Leicester Square Theatre, but I ended up going to the latter – and I’m glad I did.
Bennett is an accomplished observational comic with a keen eye for everyday absurdities, other people’s as well as his own, and over an energetic 90 minutes during which he barely pauses for breath he reflects on how we can square two realities; as a society we love stuff, but we have a looming environmental crisis.
That may sound high concept, but in reality it barely gets a mention in a straightforward, gag-filled show – and one in which Bennett gets a lot of mileage from guying the front row. On the night I saw Stuff, a bloke who had done an ex-teacher a favour became a running joke, testament to Bennett’s ability to think on his feet and seamlessly feed the accidentally acquired material into his own.
During the course of the show the Yorkshireman muses on feeling his age – he’s in his mid-40s – as he recalls his personal trainer asking him what his aim is, maybe to get ripped, to get hench? Aiming to get dressed without help is Bennett's dry response.
He accepts his demographic is on the mature side, with his audiences having a fondness for wearing gilets and carrying their mobile phones in a leather wallet – so useful for keeping stuff in…
Bennett, who is a father to young children, is very good on being a man-child; he loves Lego, but his wife wants him to include his daughter in his builds. He acts out the scenario in which he becomes increasingly frustrated with her, with him becoming the real child in this scenario.
Along the way he discusses the attractions of living like a monk and being free of “stuff”, shopping for a new mattress with his wife, and facial jewellery. Bennett has a lovely turn of phrase, describing nose piercings as “making your face look like a camping groundsheet” and he finishes on a very clever visual callback.
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