In David Benson's 1996 Fringe First award winning show Think No Evil of Us: My Life with Kenneth Williams, Noel Coward appears in a tiny cameo role, a brilliant impersonation which led him to be cast as Coward in the BBC series, Goodnight Sweetheart. In Star Struck, (Fringe 2003) Benson hosts a fantasy dinner party where the guests include Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Groucho Marx - and the irrepressible Noel Coward. A ghostly shadowy presence, breathing over Benson's shoulder, it was high time Coward was given his own Fringe show.
Dressed immaculately in black dinner suit, bow tie and polished patent shoes, this year the all round entertainer David Benson offers a musical tribute to Noel Coward with his own inimitable, comedic style. At the piano is Stewart Nicholls (a member of the Noel Coward Society), and together they have trawled the Master's archive for both favourite and long lost songs.
In this gentle afternoon cabaret show, Benson relates a biographical snapshot of Coward with stories and anecdotes in between the numbers. This is not impersonation per se, but, here and there, he captures his unique, cool, sophisticated manner with perfect vocal intonation. The songs - with extraordinary complex rhymes at a frenetic pace - blend Gilbert and Sullivan poetic wit with 1920s/1930s American blues, moving between the comical and sentimental. Benson has taken Coward's classics but wisely gives them a fresh, personal and contemporary performance. The lights dim and he sings the beautiful bittersweet, "I am no good at love" and the heartbreaking ballad "Mad about the Boy" with a rich, romantic Sinatra air.
With a theatre trunk of feather boas, hats and jackets, Benson sings, acts and amuses his way through this delightfully entertaining and enlightening show. As well as a smooth, multi-layered voice, his imaginative talent for mime and mannerism is quite brilliant. After 12 successful years at the Fringe, David Benson once more undoubtedly proves that he has a Coward-style Talent to Amuse.
Daily until 25 August, 15:40. No performance 13 August.