David Benson’s Conspiracy Cabaret Reviews

70 minutes of songs, stories and conspiracy theories.
David Benson premieres his sixth solo show.

'He is undeniably very accomplished... and, even if he neglects to mention Elvis being alive on Mars, you would swear that Frank Sinatra is alive - and in excellent singing voice - here on earth.'

***
Metro

Jeremy Austin, The Stage, Aug 18 2005

Great songs and an original theme for a cabaret show are at the heart of David Benson’s Conspiracy Cabaret. That and the ability to write, present and perform a production that at times threatens to meander from its intended path, but is always dragged back on course by an ever-aware Benson.

This is a witty and not a little camp investigation into the struggle between the rational parts of our minds and the parts that like to think that everything happens for a reason. With the ghosts of Kenneth Williams, Frankie Howerd and Noel Coward stalking the stage with him, Benson manages to weave together the theories around Princess Diana’s death, the 9/11 attacks, nine months in New York in love and his rejection of religion at an early age.

He is funny. “Who likes a conspiracy?” he asks at one point, before following it up with “And who likes a big cock-up?”

Well, ooh I say. Songs are self deprecating, such as that with the refrain: “The world would be so much simpler if everyone was like me” but well constructed and expertly performed.

Vivien Devlin, 8 August 2005 - Published on EdinburghGuide.com

Around the Fringe there are actors, script-writers, comedians, stand up comics, impersonators, singers - and there is David Benson, a theatrical enigma who does it all, with a broad, cheeky smile. 2006 will see the 10th anniversary of his Fringe debut in Think No Evil of us: My Life with Kenneth Williams, which gave him a Fringe First, a West End season and fame. No wonder he has a strong following, turning up year by year to see his newest show. We are not groupies, but serious admirers of his inimitable style of entertainment.

With a backdrop of JFK and Diana images, the show starts with a bright and bold curtain-raising number, It's a Plot! to introduce the theme of conspiracy theorists and political cover-ups. He questions the audience: do we believe in acts of conspiracy or do we have faith that certain tragic events are just a cock-up?. For the sceptics he presents the evidence of Diana's "murder" (the CCTV cameras in the tunnel were not operating) and what really happened at the World Trade Center on 9/11. He explains that the grand theories of the world are first laughed at, then criticised, then accepted as we are slowly brainwashed. The unique aspect of Benson's shows are his wild digressions into personal anecdotes, dramatising childhood experiences and revealing tiny snippets about his life, family and friends -such as a moving story about his love of New York and New Yorkers - with refreshing honesty.

Aside from the dark, political theorising, this is a Cabaret sprinkled with a dazzling medley of gorgeous Broadway-style songs, (composed by Benson and his musical director Alex Silverman), sung in beautifully precise Noel Coward fashion. Benson is a natural performer: he wears no theatrical mask but presents his own true self on stage. We leave the theatre, better informed and highly entertained after another episode of Benson's philosophical view of the world. His advice? Live your life with love.

Andrew White
Southampton Echo
Tower Arts Centre, Winchester 21-7-05

MOST people, if they've enjoyed a show, come out of the theatre saying things like: "Well, that was nice, wasn't it?" or "Didn't that woman from Wife Swap make a lovely Mary Magdalene?"

A David Benson audience, by contrast, is more likely to be asking itself: "Do you really think the world is ruled by evil lizards disguised as George Bush and the royal family?" or "I don't go along with String Theory myself, but I applaud his use of it in a theatrical context."

Best-known for his delirious dances in dead men's shoes (previous shows have explored the personalities of Kenneth Williams and Frankie Howerd), Benson's sixth solo show takes us into murkier territory as he enacts the struggle between his inner rationalist and his inner conspiricist - the former believing 9/11 to be an act of terrorism, the latter convinced it's part of the New World Order plot (that's where the evil lizards come in). As Benson sees it, the tragic victim in this world of warring belief systems is the relativist - otherwise known as the wishy-washy liberal.

Jam-packed with songs, characters and astute comic observations, this show, being test-driven in Winchester ahead of an Edinburgh run, deserves to be a huge hit. If it's not, blame it on the lizards.