Gig review

Is Bennett Arron a winner or a loser? That’s the simple premise of this affable Welsh comic’s show.

He’s had a long career as a stand-up, which has to count as a victory, even if he hasn’t had the stellar success of peers such as Peter Kay – with whom he shared the runner-up slot in the 1997  BBC New Comedy Award.  But by making such comparisons he can make even a solid career in a tough industry feel like a failure, joining the litany of such low-status stories which he shares good-naturedly with his audience.

Loser is a straightforward chronological account of those embarrassments, from being unable to act cool after his first kiss at the school disco to his contemporary life, entertaining on the cruise ships as well as the comedy circuit, occasionally sharing a green room with the likes of Michael McIntyre.

He goes from cemetery gardener in his native Port Talbot to teaching drama at a Catholic girls' school, an unusual calling for a Jewish man. Then a sommelier and a venue manager, where he had his first contact with the nascent world of alternative comedy, which - following an ill-judged first gig at his local synagogue – has been his life ever since.

Famously, he was a victim of identity theft, making a Channel 4 documentary about it and – in the process – managing to ruffle some high-profile feathers. That’s been the focus of a previous show, of course it has, but a potted version is included here to complete the autobiography he’s sharing, and to add to the feeling this is an anthology of ‘greatest hits’ anecdotes.

They are delightfully told, and as a permanently self-effacing raconteur, Arron is the fall guy in every one of them, further endearing him to the audience. The stories are garnished with gags – occasionally quite cheesy, truth be told – but they get the laughs and add to the geniality.

In an interesting QI-worthy aside, he brackets himself with other overlooked Welshmen, such as Bill Frost, who probably beat the Wright Brothers to manned flight but has not been remembered by history.

It would be a definite stretch to class Arron as a similar innovator in his field of comedy, but these are amusing stories, effectively told by a master self-deprecator, always smiling at his predicament. As you are guaranteed to as well.

Review date: 4 Oct 2023
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Radlett Centre