Ben Darsow :: Standout Comedian

Recently published in Penguin’s new iconic book on Australian standup

Sunday - 8th of January 2012

Ben recently had several of his jokes included in ‘Funny Buggers’, a new Penguin book featuring a selection of Australian standup comedians.

His material can be found alongside that of Tom Gleeson, Justin Hamilton and Greg Fleet, among others, in what is a genuinely entertaining, relevant and funny read, well compiled by Melbourne comedian and producer Karl Chandler.

Grab a copy of the book - it made Ben’s brother laugh, and standup isn’t his thing!

Special time in Kalgoorlie

Monday - 12th of December 2011

I just enjoyed a beautiful show last night in Kalgoorlie, WA.

They have a blossoming little scene there and a room that is just tailor made for an intimate comedy show.

The crowd were really receptive and appreciative and I really enjoyed blazing away for about 45.

The trip was also really special for the fact that I got to stay with my friends Matt Leske and Jan Lim who have just given birth to their gorgeous first child, Nathaniel.

Great to get back to Melbourne’s Comics Lounge

Friday - 19th of August 2011

I spent last week doing a run of nights supporting Lehmo at the iconic Comics Lounge in North Melbourne.

Few, if any, other rooms in Australia are packing in audiences of 300-plus, four nights a week, and it’s a pleasure to get to perform to that dynamic several nights in a row.

I’ve MCed there the last few times I’ve been there, but I really enjoyed just getting up as an act this time and just concerning myself with making my 20 minutes on stage as fun as possible.

The guys there do a great job of presenting a quality professional show every time their doors open, so if you are in Melbourne and looking for a fun night out check out http://www.thecomicslounge.com.au and head on over to Errol St.

New YouTube footage from supporting Jimeoin

Thursday - 19th of May 2011

A couple of weeks ago I supported Jimeoin in front of 400 at the Arkaba Hotel in adelaide.

Below is some of the footage from the night.

Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-SaN3kkddQ

Great to get back to Melbourne’

Saturday - 20th of August 2011

Great fun at Linfield Road Wines Barossa Vintage Festival show

Friday - 29th of April 2011

On Wednesday the Wilson family of Linfield Road Wines hosted a night of standup comedy as part of the Barossa Vintage Festival at their beautiful winery just out of Williamstown, SA.

Myself along with Jason Chong (http://www.jasonchong.com.au) and Rich Naberhood (http://www.richnaberhood.com.au) had a great time presenting the show to what was a really bouncy and friendly crowd of about 150.

I had just come back from 2 weeks in the clubs of Sydney, Jason had just returned from the Melbourne Comedy Festival and Rich had lobbed back in Adelaide the day before from a road trip supporting Chopper Read, so we all really enjoyed teaming up for the event.

Jason did a great job as Host, I did 45 minutes that felt like it went quicker than that (hopefully the audience felt the same!) and Rich closed the show with one of the strongest, most likeable and well received sets I’ve seen him do.

Thanks again to the Wilson family for hosting the event, thanks to the crowd for being so up for it, and thanks to the other two guys for making it such a fun night!

Adelaide Fringe

Saturday - 5th of March 2011

I have 6 shows left of ‘No Such Thing as Normal’ at Sugar Nightclub.

The last couple of tuesdays at the Dog and Duck have been cancelled.

The 10 shows at Sugar so far have been really well attended with 30-40 coming along each night in great spirits.

If you haven’t already been come along and let’s have some fun!

3 Tuesdays at the Dog and Duck

Thursday - 10th of February 2011

Wow! in Sydney

Tuesday - 11th of January 2011

After a couple of more ‘mechanical’ performances to ease back into performing in 2011, the last couple of nights have really started to get going.

Saturday night at the Laugh Garage on the corner of Elizabeth St and Park St in Sydney’s CBD just cooked.

The room there is so comedy friendly and it was a pleasure to perform alongside club owner/very talented standup comedian Darren Sanders who seriously got the job done as MC, and Jacques Barrett who has to be one of our country’s best live standups who does not yet have a mainstream media profile.

I made a commitment before the show to really have a spring in my step and ‘sell what I do’ this performance and as it turned out I was really satisfied with a good return to form and a really enjoyable time on stage.

I love performing at the Laugh Garage, and owners Darren Sanders and Paul Warnes and ‘support staff - extraordinaire’ Jules deserve every bit of success they experience as the reputation and attendance of this club surely grows.

Earlier tonight too I had the pleasure of once again performing alongside Jacques, and also Dain and Dom Romeo, this time at the Old Manly Boatshed - one of Australia’s oldest running live comedy venues. The past couple of times I have been there have coincided with freakishly heavy rain outside resulting in friendly but low key affairs. Tonight’s show was packed well before start time though and without a word of a lie we all knew it was going to be a great night a minute into the show.

It was just one of those nights where the audience and the comedians all seemed genuinely on the same page - the audience wanting to go with every tangent and angle, and the comedians really fresh and excited to present their stuff - and I doubt there would have been a person on either side of the mic who didn’t thoroughly enjoy this one.

Personally I was really happy with the vibe I set as MC and I feel it was the first time that I have found myself really comfortable in this particuar venue, which was very rewarding given the uniquely challenging way that it is set up (long room, very bright spotlights making for a very dark audience).

In terms of watching the other acts too, it was a show I simply won’t forget.

Experienced ‘man about the scene’ Dom Romeo opened and did a great job of his 5.

Dain was someone I’d never heard of before but is someone whose smart, relevant and sharp gear has made me a fan after 15 minutes on stage. He is already well worth watching and is only going to become higher profile as his body of work expands and he takes what he does outside of Sydney more often.

Jacques took his performing from the past few nights at the Laugh Garage up about…oh…5 notches, from very good to ‘wow’. His stuff tonight was as relevant, insightful, well defined and flat out funny as any performance I’ve seen in a reasonable while - he killed, and he deserves every bit of success that will no doubt come his way as more people in higher places start recognising the quality of what he does.

So yeah, here I am sitting on my apartment couch, looking out at the Sydney skyline through a light haze of rain just going ‘man, sweet night and how blessed am I to have this job’.

Peace out homies.

Mega fun at the Pt Noarlunga Cricket Club

Wednesday - 29th of December 2010

I was really pleased to end 2010 with a couple of really fun shows.

The latter of which was a half hour set at the Pt Noarlunga Cricket Club as part of a package show alongside Kehau Jackson and Big Al, two very fine Adelaide based and nationally touring comedians.

The crowd were an absolute delight to perform to and interact with and I really enjoyed the opportunity to work in some newer material that I am developing for my 2011 Adelaide Fringe show ‘No Such Thing as Normal’.

Big thanks to ‘Patto’ (just to destroy the Australian sporting club stereotype!) for organising the night and for being so welcoming and accomodating towards us comedians, and also to the members and friends of the club who were a pleasure to hang and chat with over a couple of drinks after the show.

After being really focussed over November and December on so many of the behind the scenes things that need to be taken care of to get 2011 going in the right direction (bookings, travel schedule, financial objectives, Fringe venue preparations, artwork creation, creative output, show sponsorship, website updating, promo photo sessions, etc!!!), and having had a couple of tougher gigs early in December, it was awesome to re-aquaint myself with what my product actually is, and have had so much fun presenting it to a really friendly, appreciative group of people too.

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