Pretending Things are a Cock is the product of Bennett’s three years of global wandering, and combines the artistic, phallic-filled photographic display with hilarious and surprisingly heart-wrenching tales from Bennett’s life.
This Just for Laughs award-nominated show for Best Comedy has now been performed to sell-out audiences and critical acclaim world wide. The show has toured to some of the biggest festivals in the world including the renowned Edinburgh Fringe (2012) and Just for Laughs Zoofest in Montreal (2013).
A unique stand-up experience, PTAAC is a hilarious, but also strangely affecting pot-holed journey into the idiosyncratic world of Jon Bennett.
**Just for Laughs Award nomination for Best Comedy (Montreal Fringe, 2010)
**Pick of the Fringe Award (Winnipeg Fringe, 2011)
**Selected (Just for Laughs Zoofest, 2013)
**Critics Pick of the Fringe Award (San Diego Fringe, 2014)
**Pick of the Fringe Award (Calgary Fringe, 2015)
**Pick of the Fringe Award (Boulder Fringe, 2015)
**Funniest Show Award (London Fringe, 2015)
“The funniest show at the fringe. Don’t miss it. ★★★★½” - Calgary Herald
“Instantly likeable, Bennett is a deft storyteller with a frank, confessional style that blends pathos and humour to great effect. ★★★★½” – Uptown Magazine (CAN)
“Dick obsessed humor goes much deeper. ★★★★” - Now Toronto
“Bennett delivers belly laugh after belly laugh. ★★★★” - London Free Press
“Jon Bennett is such a warm and charismatic performer he turns one of the most puerile concepts into something quite special indeed. ★★★★” - Hairline Reviews (UK)
“at the end of this hilarious and thoughtful hour, no one seems to want to leave the room. ★★★★” – Edmonton Journal (CAN)
“true brilliance ★★★★” – Vue Weekly (CAN)
“Bennett is a rare talent and this is one of the funniest shows at the Festival.” - The Press (NZ)
“Bennett has a near-mystical ability to spin a yarn, bringing characters and places to vivid life.” – The Skinny (UK)
“Part travelogue, part personal adventure, Bennett tells these stories engagingly, swinging nicely between the hilarious and the sublime.” – Fest Magazine (UK)
“The bad-travel stories of Bill Bryson, the familial weirdness of Augusten Burroughs, the sharp wit of David Sedaris and slides that range from the bizarre to the ridiculously hilarious.” – CBC Manitoba (CAN)
“Delightful and enthralling” – Australian Comedy Review (AUS)
“Jon is smart, funny, engaging and talented.” – The Herald Sun (AUS)
“the indisputable fact that if your inner schoolboy needs a giggle, Jon Bennett is your messiah.” – UQ Events Arts & Entertainment (CAN)
“You see, the show is about more than Jon telling funny stories on stage. It is the beginning of a friendship in which you are his confidant. It is why after the show he invites you to have a beer with him, and why I feel comfortable calling him by his first name.”- Newshit Magazine (AUS)
“It needs to be seen to be believed”
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is not your average run-of-the-mill comedy show.”
“Ever get the feeling you’re being played with by a prankster with Andy Kaufman sensibilities?”– RHUM Magazine (AUS)
“Bennett is a natural storyteller and will have you completely engrossed” – Montreal Mirror (CAN)
Dear Brother,
How’s jail? How many cigarettes does it cost for a picture of a naked lady? Are you getting really strong? I’ve written a show about you, is that ok? You’re in jail so you can’t really say no.
Love from your little brother,
Jon
Renowned Australian storyteller Jon Bennett tells the amazingly sordid and bizarre story of his brother’s life. A sometimes shocking and chaotic tale, Bennett recounts his brother’s experiences with both charismatic hilarity and heart-warming, poignant reflection.
Fire in the Meth Lab tells of drug dealers, bikers, high-speed car chases, fights, crime, prison, vomit, exploding houses and even cancer. The show explores brotherly relationships and how siblings with the same upbringing can choose very separate paths.
AWARDS AND ACCOLADES
**Best Performance Winner (Victoria Fringe, 2016)
**Sell Out Show Award Winner (Orlando Fringe, 2014)
**Audience Best in Venue Fringe Award Winner (Orlando Fringe, 2014)
**Sold out Season (Brisbane Comedy Festival 2015)
**Selected (Just for Laughs Zoofest, 2014)
**Just for Laughs Award nomination for Best Comedy (Montreal Fringe, 2014)
**Pick of the Fringe Runner up (Victoria Fringe, 2016)
**Favorite Comedy Runner up (Victoria Fringe, 2016)
**Favorite Spoken Word/Storytelling Runner up (Victoria Fringe, 2016)
**Favorite Solo Show Runner up (Victoria Fringe, 2016)
**Best Comedy Award Nominee (Perth Fringe World, 2014)
“This show will make you laugh, even after you’ve left the venue. ★★★★★” – Vue Weekly (CAN)
“Hilarious.” ★★★★★ – Edmonton Sun (CAN)
“Incinerates your expectations of the solo confessional, this flammable Australian is in a league of his own.” ★★★★½ – Edmonton Journal (CAN)
“Brilliant ★★★★½” - Rip it Up Magazine (AUS)
“the deepest, most poetic hour you’ll spend. ★★★★” - Winnipeg Free Press (CAN)
“Funny, compelling and surprising, Fire in the Meth Lab will have you laughing one minute and tearing up the next. ★★★★” - CBC (CAN)
“Bennett has an uncanny and unnerving ability to make you crease up with laughter before dropping a perfectly timed bombshell. ★★★★” - Time Out (UK)
“It took me several minutes to regain my hearing after the show, not from Bennett’s delivery but from the level of laughter the packed crowd generated. ★★★★” – The West Australian
“Jon Bennett sets the gold standard in storytelling. This show is powerful, brutally honest, and drenched in the rich humour of pathos. This is unlike any other show you’ll find at the festival. Get your hit of raw and real comedy. This is my pick of the festival so far.” – Heckler (AUS)
“Timeless joy” - Herald Sun (AUS)
“An entrancing hour of compelling stories ★★★★” - Chortle (UK)
“Fire in the Meth Lab is fucking hilarious!” – Forget the Box (CAN)
“über-watchable” – Charpo Canada (CAN)
IT’S RABBIT NIGHT!!!
IT’S RABBIT NIGHT!!!
IT’S RABBIT NIGHT!!!
IT’S RABBIT NIGHT!!!
(Free Carrots!!!)
**Golden Gibbo Award Nomination (Melbourne International Comedy Festival, 2015)
**Just for Laughs Award nomination for Best Comedy (Montreal Fringe, 2015)
“Jon Bennett’s It’s Rabbit Night!!! is a joyous, bonkers, whole venue experience.”
“David Lynch would love it.”
“A fabulous example of his mesmerizing storytelling.”
★★★★ – The Clothesline
“Jon Bennett is a man with a wealth of stories – awkward, funny, touching, dark, cringeworthy, sometimes all at once – and most importantly, the talent to tell them well.
This top-tier performer is definitely worth the climb.”
★★★★ – Dirt and Candy
Jon Bennett’s dad always wanted his son to be an author… like Banjo Patterson. From the creator of the internationally acclaimed Pretending Things Are a Cock comes the story of the strange relationship between a comedian and his extremely conservative father; a man who has died… more than once.
**Just for Laughs Award nomination for Best Comedy (Montreal Fringe, 2013)
**Selected (Just for Laughs Zoofest, 2014)
**Best Comedy Award Nominee (Perth Fringe World, 2015)
**Best Solo Show Award WINNER (Orlando Fringe, 2015)
**Best in Venue Award WINNER (Orlando Fringe, 2015)
“Armed only with self-deprecating wit and memories, Bennett reminds us that ordinary people lead extraordinary lives. ★★★★★” - The Sunday Mail (AUS)
“Bennett is the patron saint of storytelling. ★★★★★” – Broadway Baby (UK)
“Bennett is a joy to watch. This is bold, honest, engaging and different to a lot of standard comedy on offer. ★★★★★” – Fringe Guru (UK)
“Full of heart and packed with laughter, this is how storytelling should be done. ★★★★” – The Skinny (UK)
“An example of how much comedy can achieve in terms of depth and range, that it can be belly laugh funny and emotionally powerful. ★★★★” – Chortle (UK)
“A wonderful storyteller at the top of his game. ★★★★½” - The Plains Producer (AUS)
“The audience is spellbound, laughing, gasping, allowing their emotions to be played upon.” “Gut-wrenchingly good – Bennett is a master storyteller. ★★★★” – Time Out Magazine (AUS)
“a great storyteller. ★★★★” - The Adelaide Advertiser (AUS)
“Without doubt, amongst the best, absolute funniest storytelling I’ve ever heard.” - Db Magazine
Jon Bennett (5 x Just For Laughs Award nominee and Moth Story Slam Winner) was a great junior footballer in Southern Australia.
He was set to ‘MAKE IT’ until he started playing with men… real men. His football career came crashing down when a community tragedy made him re-evaluate his life.
It’s about community, friendships, life and death and football. This is a ‘work in progress show’ from a ‘work in progress human’.
**Just for Laughs Best Comedy Award nomination** (Montreal Fringe, 2016)
"Charming and funny" - Orlando Sentinel
"The gifted story teller engaged the crowd so skilfully, within moments of the show starting you had the impression that you had known Jon since childhood. I couldn’t shake the disarming feeling of intimacy for the entire duration of the show." - CJLO Montreal
"No one can observe life quite like Bennett. His delivery is infectious. Hysterical and heartfelt. A perfect example why Bennett is so excellent as a performer. His authenticity is disarming and invites self-reflection. He doesn’t hide behind his humour or have a schtick. Bennett is so honest about himself, so uncensored and willing to share himself as he is. He talks about events and things that other people would rather forget — and not just the ones that are embarrassingly funny, but also the ones that show a raw, sensitive heart. Just hearing Bennett has the sensation of making one a better person, because he invites the same kind of recognition as he accepts in himself. We are all perfectly imperfect beings." - Montreal Rampage
This is NOT a love story but a story of love… in the Montreal airport…
**Best Comedy Award Nominee (Perth Fringe World, 2015)
**Just for Laughs Award nomination for Best Comedy (Montreal Fringe, 2014)
“The rumours are true – Bennett possesses a masterful narrative skill, taking us on a journey full of heartbreak, joy and a whole lot of dick jokes. He brings depth to the dumb stuff and levity to the heavy stuff, and is totally unafraid of revealing the most brutally personal details of his life story. ★★★★“ - SBS Television (Melbourne)
“Über-Funny and vulnerable — hold on to your panties, Ladies.“ – Montreal Rampage
“An expert story teller” - Capital Critics Circle (Montreal)
“Bennett sure knows how to weave a yarn.” – Herald Sun (Melbourne)
What is Jason’s favourite postcards?*
Does Jason believe in Nuclear Disarmament?*
When do you think your best friend’s boyfriend will leave her?*
Audience and comedians come together to play one of the most difficult and baffling board games of all time about early 90s Aussie heart throb, soap and pop star Jason Donovan.
Hosted by Jon Bennett.
*Actual questions from the game.
"Exactly what the audiences want. A lot of fun to be had. ★★★★” - The West Australian
Jon Bennett can entertain you WHEREVER and WHENEVER you like in this unique and personal experience.
Need some entertainment? Bored and want some amusing company? Got a fundraiser? A corporate event? A Party? A Funeral? Need a nice bedtime story? Got a long boring car trip? Want an break from digging a very deep hole? ANYtime. ANYwhere. For the right price, Jon will be there.
World renowned Australian comedic storyteller Jon Bennett (Pretending Things are a Cock and Fire in the Meth Lab) will perform any one (or two or even ALL SEVEN) of his critically acclaimed, multi-award winning shows, but this time he’s coming to you. You (the audience) can ‘hire’ Jon to perform for you whenever and where ever you would like. Simply email storywhorebookings@gmail.com to arrange your experience. Prices are extremely negotiable.
