Vomit punches, dog attacks, fake exorcisms, anatomy — what’s not to find funny?

Comedy

Jon Bennett: The Nominee

4 stars

The Shoe Bar

REVIEW CLARISSA PHILLIPS

Comedian Jon Bennett is no stranger to Fringe World success. Well, sort of.

His shows have been nominated several times for the best comedy, but he’s never actually won.

That doesn’t faze him. He’s brought them back to Fringe to perform again but, this time, the audience gets to decide which of his nominated shows they want to see.

The Nominee starts with Bennett giving the audience three shows to choose from.

On this particular night, the winning choice was Fire in the Meth Lab, which narrowly beat My Dad’s Death and Pretending Things are a C*ck. Yes, these are real shows.

How does Bennett make his brother’s drug addiction funny? With tales of Jason Donovan, The Wonder Years, floor ice-cream, letters from jail and a little bit of religion.

It starts with Tim’s unusual Donovan obsession. Bennett uses a vintage Jason Donovan Straight From the Heart board game to illustrate the ridiculousness of this.

This includes questions like: What is Jason’s favourite house?

The addictions move from washed-up pop stars to Jesus (Bennett’s father was a Pentecostal minister), to alcohol and drugs.

There are stories of vomit punches, dog attacks, fake exorcisms and displaced anatomy.

They are often hilarious but also incredibly intimate.

Yes, the stories of his unfortunate brother are funny. But it’s the way Bennett can keep the crowd hooked through his engaging storytelling that will keep them coming back for more.

Jon Bennett: The Nominee is on tomorrow, Wednesday and February 15.