Fringe favourite Jon Bennett was once a great junior footballer in Southern Australia.
He was set to "MAKE IT" until he started playing with men… real men. Jon's football career came crashing down when a community tragedy made him re-evaluate his life.
Now a multi award-winning touring performer of festival phenomenon such as Pretending Things Are a Cock, Fire in the Meth Lab, How I Learned to Hug and my Dad's Deaths, it seems Bennett couldn't be further away from the football field. But Jon "Pretend Cocks Guy" Bennett can never run too far from tackling the big men.
A show about community, friendships, life, death, MEN and a bit of football.
Just for Laughs Best Comedy Award nomination (Montreal Fringe, 2016)
Best Storytelling Award Winner (Sydney Fringe, 2023)
Outstanding Storytelling Award Winner (Victoria Fringe, 2019)
“ A tour de force who will make you laugh–to tears. ★★★★★” - Otakuno Culture
“Bennett expertly engages us with his wit and self-deprecating charm, so this is a performance we enjoy and endure, together. It is successful in combining the release of a good laugh with a depth of meaning we must process afterwards. ★★★★½” - Stage Whispers
”What I love most about Bennett is he’s an artist who doesn’t just make you laugh or cry, he makes you think. And in Jon Bennett: Playing With Men, he’s at his best.” - London Free Press
“Side-splittingly funny and scathingly self-critical, it’s a valuable work that probes at toxic masculinity and the culture of machismo.” - CVTV
“Made me laugh until I cried. Then laugh some more.” - Theatre In London
“Both funny and crushingly tragic. ★★★★” - Check the Program
“This friendly show is hard not to love. ★★★★” - The Australia Times
"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