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The Bensonian Archives

DAVID BENSON•www.podomatic.com
Arts
Performing Arts
Recordings from my voluminous sound archives. More to come! ALL COMMENTS WELCOME
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Episodes

David Benson Live at the Club for Acts and Actors (CAA)

I closed the bill at the CAA's Monday Night Concert on 30th November 2009. I was lucky to be accompanied by the venerable m.d. Terry White, who did an excellent job. In the audience was lovely Pamela Cundell aka Mrs. Fox off Dad's Army, now Queen of the CAA (see photo, taken 2008 at CAA). Host: Georgina Jayne Songs: Cohen Owes Me Ninety-Seven Dollars (Irving Berlin, 1915) All The Things You Are (Kern/Hammerstein, 1939) Collegiate (Jaffe/Bonx, 1925)

Dec 01, 2009•17 min

Parkinson's Sunday Supplement BBC R2 11th January 1997

I was amazed and flattered, during the run of Think No Evil at Us at Birmingham Rep (Dec 96-Jan 97) to be asked onto legendary chat-show host Michael Parkinson's Radio 2 afternoon show. It was my birthday too so it had a feeling of significance and the promise of having 'arrived'. Of course, it was his television show that I dreamed of being a guest on during my adolescence. I watched it every Saturday night religiously. Not only were some of my most revered idols interviewed on it (Fred Astaire...

Mar 11, 2009•14 min

BBC Radio London, Tessa Dunlop Show 8-2-08 11.35pm

This is where it all went horribly wrong with Clayton and I and Radio London host Tessa Dunlop. The first one we did with her, last December, was a delight. We did another in January 2008 (not posted here yet) in which the end of our hour was marred by our use of words in Clayton's blog unsuitable for Radio London, a notoriously sensitive station (the words were 'cocks and bumholes'). This time we made another attempt at the same blog, sweetened up sufficiently we thought, to pass the station's ...

Feb 09, 2008•2 min

Scott Mills Show, BBC Radio One January 24th 2008

Another job for Radio 1, this is one of the strangest assignments I have ever been asked to perform. I was asked onto the Scott Mills show to help with a stunt which involved Scott giving me, in the guise of a high-up BBC executive, a tour of the Radio 1 building and meeting various employees - including the venerable Jo Whiley. My brief was to drop in a really bad joke at some point in the conversation and see whether our victims did a 'career laugh'. What made it hard was that I had to be able...

Jan 25, 2008•9 min

Mavis Nicholson, BBC Radio 2, December 1996

This is an interview I did backstage at the King's Head Theatre, Upper Street, North London, immediately following a performance of Think No Evil of Us - My Life With Kenneth Williams, in December 1996. The show was still very new, just down from Edinburgh and I was overwhelmed at the response I was getting on this, its first London run: packed houses, great reviews and people wanting to interview me. At the age of 34 I had finally been discovered. I was thrilled and honoured to be interviewed b...

Jan 05, 2008•23 min

The Wooden Overcoat BBC Radio Four 22nd December 2007

I play the part of Rex in this adaptation by Mark (League of Gentlemen) Gatiss of 1950's novelist Pamela Branch's black comedy. I was delighted to be working not only with the excellent and ubiquitous David Tennant but also with the brilliant Julia Davis, whose BBC4 series Nighty Night was such a highlight of their recent output. I come in about eighteen minutes in.

Dec 31, 2007•57 min

BBC Radio London, Tessa Dunlop Show 15th December 2007 00:12 - 01:00am

By a bizarre co-incidence I was invited on to this delightful woman's show the same night as a very good friend of mine, Clayton. It was the midnight spot where a couple of guests 'review' the next day's papers and plug their products: in Clayton's case, his Myspace blog about Soho life (www.myspace.com/dwbsoho) and me my Christmas show that I was touring at the time. Ms. Dunlop was a most invigorating host and we had a fun time. We will be on again on January 11th. Watch this space!

Dec 31, 2007•48 min

The Rag and Bone Man read by Kenneth Williams, Jackanory Wednesday 10th December 1975

In December 1975 I was one of the winners of the BBC's annual Jackanory Story Writing Competition. My prize was to have have my story read by Kenneth Williams. There were two anonymous presenters who read the bulk of the winning entries in the studio. Halfway through the programme, came the star spot: the lucky winner selected to have their story read by Williams. I got the Wednesday Williams Spot. One of the forgotten presenters would pick up the phone and dial. We then cut to a pre-filmed sequ...

Dec 31, 2007•5 min

Mr. Crowley's Christmas

A special Christmas skit featuring Scarifyers' favourite Aleister Crowley in a twist on Dicken's A Christmas Carol. Also featuring Nicholas courtney, Terry Molloy and Ilona McDonald. Written and produced by Simon Barnard For more on The Scarifyers series, see www.cosmichobo.com

Dec 31, 2007•5 min

Loose Ends BBC Radio Four, Saturday 16th December 2007

I was asked on to plug my show Christmas Party. Here I am performing a song from the show with Alex Silverman. You will also hear the host Peter Curran and actor Peter Bowles. Also in the studio were Mark Gatiss, Robin Ince, John Bird and Jeremy Beadle.

Dec 31, 2007•5 min

Kenneth Williams Last Diary Entries

The last chapter of The Private World of Kenneth Williams, a project I put together with producer Jonathan James Moore in 2003. The three half-hour programmes comprised readings by me from The Kenneth Williams Diaries, interspersed with recordings of Kenneth himself in performance. Here are the final, sad diary entries plus a clip from a radio phone-in show where Kenneth talks about his preferred epitaph. The full programmes are available on a 2-CD set from the BBC: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Priva...

Dec 31, 2007•5 min

Ruth Draper and Her Company of Characters

Broadcast BBC Radio Four, December 2002 I was invited by producer Jonathan James Moore to put together a tribute to my great theatrical hero Ruth Draper (1884-1956). It was a great honour to be able to pay public tribute to this brilliant performer, now sadly mostly forgotten but a huge and continuing influence on my own solo stage work. I was particularly pleased that we able to access rare recordings of Draper from the BBC's own archives, as well as playing copious extracts from the monologues...

Dec 30, 2007•27 min

Bert The Radio One Receptionist + Wes Butters, Daniel Bedingfield, Jo Jo, Brian McFadden

Wes Butters, then host of Radio One's Chart Show, asked me to play the part of Bert for this skit. The voices of the stars (whoever they are) are genuine, recorded specially for the broadcast. Wes also asked me to do a couple of 'wind-up' calls, which I don't really approve of and I found hard to do. But I did them and here they are...

Dec 30, 2007•7 min
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