Steve Bennett (I)
- Journalist and reviewer
Press clippings Page 46
Review - Nick Helm: All Killer Some Filler
Hundreds of people in a sweaty, beery venue chanting as one after a night of shared jokes and songs to fire your spirits from a high-octane performer. This special certainly makes you wish you were there at the time... and pine for the time we can do it again.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 4th June 2020Review - Comedians: Home Alone
This must have been one of the easiest comedy compilation shows to curate. With the live circuit in its induced coma, so many stand-ups are pumping out online content online that the whole internet is one giant audition room.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 1st June 2020Review: The First Team
The Inbetweeners rightly raised Iain Morris and Damon Beesley to the comedy nobility. But with The First Team - another examination of young male relationships - they've missed the goal, certainly judging by a relatively flat opening episode.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 28th May 2020What's The Matter With Tony Slattery? review
This story of what happened to Tony Slattery, 35 years after he set screens alight with his dazzling displays of mercurial comedy talent is not always an easy watch, but it is a compelling one.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 20th May 2020Book review: Alternative Comedy, by Oliver Double
This fascinating, well-written and meticulously researched guide to Britain's alternative comedy revolution is probably the most accurate single retrospective of that transformative time that exists. The only problem is, it has been released as an academic title with a price tag that will put this comprehensive history out of the reach of all but the most deep-pocketed of interested fans. It costs - and this is not a misprint - £75. So much for the egalitarianism of the movement.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 19th May 2020Charlie Brooker's Antiviral Wipe review
There's no surer sign that the hairline cracks in the 'Keep Calm and Carry On' all-in-this-together, good-old British pluck response to Covid-19 has fissured into more open derision of government failures than having cynic-in-chief Charlie Brooker return to our screens.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 14th May 2020Review - Where To, Mate?
Much fuss was made earlier this month when it was announced that the BBC was remaking Alan Bennett's Talking Heads monologues with a new cast. Well, with a lot less fanfare, this low-key Radio 4 quarter-hour comedy occupies similar comedy, territory with wry and revealing character-led conversations, all taking place on cab journeys around Manchester.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 13th May 2020Review: Ricky & Ralf's Very Northern Road Trip
It's impossible to top Ralf Little's own review of this new travelogue with his Royle Family dad Ricky Tomlinson as a 'two-bob version of The Trip'.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 11th May 2020Code 404 review
Sky's had a pretty good run with its comedy commissions lately, thanks to the likes of Breeders and Intelligence, and Code 404 - named after the 'page not found' error in internet protocols - is a solid and stupid addition to that decent slate.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 29th April 2020After Life Series 2 review
Given he's known for brutally direct stand-up, it's little surprise that Ricky Gervais doesn't do subtext.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 24th April 2020