Review by Hilary Wardle

Comedy songs have been around ever since the first proto-humanoid decided to make up a rude poem about his friend Ug to a mammoth-skin bongo accompaniment. Now hard to find a comedian who doesn’t whip out a kazoo or ukulele or melodica half way through their set.

Luckily for us, the energy, flair and skill Ben brings to his – very intelligent- ditties about what it means to be human lift them above the fare offered by bog-standard ‘I’ve run out of material so I’d better do something with this guitar’ musical acts.

So, what does it mean to be human? Well, according to Ben there are a lot of ingredients. He covers everything from Tourette’s syndrome and Tesco Bags for Life to the Higgs Boson. You’d think such a strange variety pack of subjects might not work well together, but his ‘human experience’ theme manages to blend them together into a coherent and philosophical whole.

He’s an excellent songwriter and musician, to the extent that his polished songs tend to overshadow the stand-up sections. Like a penguin out of water, he seems a bit ungainly and out of his comfort zone when he’s pacing the stage rather than sitting in front of his piano. At times he stumbles, but his material is solid and witty enough to make up for the occasional awkward moment. He’s also so likeable that you can’t help rooting for him.

Ben spent ten years writing music for children’s television shows before moving on to stand-up, so there’s a childish glee and bounciness in his songs that’s quite infectious. He’s very clearly influenced by the likes of Tim Minchin and Mitch Benn, though his hit YouTube song about the iPhone’s useless autocorrect feature has more in common with the lo-fi, self-deprecation of David O’Doherty

The phrase ‘one to watch’ is bandied around far more often than it should be at the Fringe, so instead let’s just say that dulcet-toned Ben Champion is – at the moment - certainly one to listen to, and if he tunes up his stand-up sections he may well end up rivalling the musical comedy heavyweights.

Review date: 24 Aug 2013
Reviewed by: Hilary Wardle