Steve Bennett (I)
- Journalist and reviewer
Press clippings Page 114
Peep Show - series 9, episode 1 review
This opening episode is basically a reset button to put the characters back where they need to be, but it's written with the elegance that cements Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain's legacy. Their script nips between big set pieces with savvy dialogue that fizzes with gags and wry asides, while making viewers cringe at the appallingly self-serving antics of the anti-heroes that we now know so well.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 11th November 2015Alfie Brown: -ism: review
Brown's a comic who's still changing year-by-year, making him hard to pigeonhole and market (perhaps explaining the poor attendance). But there's always something interesting going on, and he's getting ever-more skilled at sneaking difficult ideas into a more conversational, dare we say accessible, narrative.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 9th November 2015Review - Kieran Hodgson: Lance
Yet while story is all, Kieran Hodgson doesn't neglect jokes, and there are plenty of blind-siders here, while the whole story is given a droll air by a knowing subtext, which occasionally pops to the surface with asides about Hodgson's career decisions.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 4th November 2015Detectorists - Series 2 review
Although Detectorists can make you laugh, it's always in an understated way, almost as if '...' is a punchline.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 29th October 2015Detectorists: series 2 preview
Have they got a bit more budget for the second series of Detectorists? The opening episode starts with a historical battle... a big set piece that only serves to emphasise contrast between the drama of the past and the mundanity of the enthusiasts trying to connect with it, though the smallest of items.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 29th October 2015Review: Catastrophe series 2
All in all, it makes for a complex, delicious sweet-and-sour taste that will keep the critical garlands flooding in. And deservedly so, for this is proper grown-up comedy in which the consequences are not only hilarious - but credible, too.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 27th October 2015Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse: Legends - review
Yes, they depend on smut and stereotypes in some of their work, and are sometimes a bit reactionary, but that's part of the broad strokes with which they start. They're aware of the criticism, and there's more subtlety close up. Even lesser-known creations (by their standards) are a skilled blend of observation and silliness.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 26th October 2015Frankie Boyle review
In what might be a first for him, there is a short personal anecdote in among all the pungent one-liners and angry rhetoric, when the recovering alcoholic recalls a run-in with an American cop from his drinking days.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 23rd October 2015Sofie Hagen review
The old theatre critic's cliche is 'steal a ticket to see this show'.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 22nd October 2015Review: Fred Macaulay
It's a thoroughly pleasant 60 minutes - cut down for the Brighton Comedy Festival from the two 45-minute halves he usually performs on tour - with a decent handful of good jokes. But ultimately Twenty Fifteen doesn't have the drive to feel like it's a substantial, or essential, night out.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 22nd October 2015