I know Mitch Benn has that guy who made some great songs over the lockdown, which is a terrible undersell of his talent.
Benn was on Radio 4’s The Now Show for 16 years, making up music for the week’s news, hosting others, written a sci-fi novel series called Terra, which picked up a publishing deal.
The man is a talent.
Benn starts his Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023 act by asking what the point is. I can say this; Mitch Benn’s The Point was the first show I took Edinburgh Review’s senior editor, Bronwen Winter Phoenix, to see, and I booked early. As the show started, I knew this would not be anything like the shows she’d elected to spend her hard-pressed time on. Therefore, Mitch, the point was to make a good impression.
Thankfully, early on, Mitch Benn has a short song about how singing, especially guitar comedians, are at the bottom of the pile. The topic selection was a clever tactical defence move and (as always) a great song.
The Point is also in the Jersey studio in the Underbelly in Bristo Square, one of Edinburgh Uni’s underground wonder spaces. It’s gorgeous. Benn was there in 2022, and I hope again in 2024.
Ultimately, I get to write this review and tell you that Mitch is in top form.
What to expect
Mitch Benn sings about life and politics. Yes, that means he leans to the left – there’s a whole song about that. However, he’s relatively centralist in his views. I guess he doesn’t like bullying.
I also sense this intelligent guy isn’t exceptionally tolerant of stupidity.
If you are right-leaning, and don’t have thick skin, then I suspect you won’t like the topics. Given that the audience in the darkened chamber seemed to have quite a large turnout from the grey vote demographic, I was left hopeful that generational divides might not be as scary as I feared. Also, young people, please vote.
The Point is a tour through topics, not all of them politics. The set starts off with a power trip through the history of comedy. I found it fascinating and surprised at how late humanity developed comedy as a thing. Oh, sure, we’ve always had jokes but satire and the sort of curated commentary we get today? We didn’t get that until civilisation was well and truly up-and-running/speeding-to-what-we-have-now.
What is The Point of comedy? It turns out we’re not really sure! I bet you’ve immediately thought of a plausible theory. I think it must be good for communication, the management of emotions and, therefore, the cohesion of social units, but scientists are not %100 sure. As Mitch points out, comedy is pretty powerful – it provokes an uncontrollable physical response, not a million miles from fear, and even causes an audible response!
Vibe and Performance
I really enjoyed it! The audience all around me seemed to lap up every musical second. Er, well, the only one I was unsure about was Bronwen, but she wasn’t one of the loyal fans who had followed Mitch to Edinburgh.
People had come to Edinburgh to see and hear Mitch Benn sing live. I know because I was in the queue surrounded by them.
Benn not only performs live but controls the music himself from a phone. As a result of the solo nature of The Point, Mitch Benn lines up the backing tracks, even somehow getting in time with a virtual backing singer. He’ll create loops then and there, beatboxing into the microphone for the background. He’ll play his guitar, too, while a song unpacks a thorny issue with intelligence and wit.
I started this review by speaking highly of Underbelly’s Jersey venue, and I stand by that. I just think a Mitch Benn experience is crafted for the back room of a pub with a posse of friends.
Overall
I’m glad I bought the tickets and enjoyed the show. Benn makes points clearly and cleverly with some fantastic music (some of the old stuff is on iTunes) in the comfort of an air-conditioned theatre.
If Benn returns to Edinburgh in 2024, I will grab tickets again long before doing the reviewer thing of packing the day impossibly busy with shows to see. After all, The Point of Edinburgh Reviews in festival season is not just to help match people with Fringe shows but to do stuff you enjoy but don’t usually get to do.
A review of Mitch Benn: The Point
Summary
Mitch Benn is a talented singer, an insightful comedian and a powerful communicator. His carefully planned set is entertaining and educational in equal measure and is one of my early highlights of Edinburgh Fringe 2023.
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