Benji is an accomplished comedy director, dramaturg and developer, with a life-long passion for stand-up comedy and sketch shows; he took piano lessons after being inspired by Victoria Wood, French lessons after watching Eddie Izzard, and found a lifelong love of drinking after sitting too close to Johnny Vegas in the bar of the Gilded Balloon when he was 18.
The work Benji is drawn to fuses comedy with overarching narrative storytelling, and he has a particular passion for dark and subversive comedy, although he embraces all aspects of the artform.
Benji works as a consultant with comedians and comedy troupes in a variety of areas including:
- Development and refinement of new material;
- Advising on and strengthening structural, narrative and dramaturgical flow;
- Incorporating theatricality, music, and stage illusion into routines;
- Generating and workshopping new work, and testing material in work-in-progress gigs.
Benji has worked with internationally recognised and celebrated comedy writers, developing and adapting work for UK audiences. These writers include:
- David Javerbaum, American comedy writer, who has won 13 Emmy Awards in his career, 11 of them for his work on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He runs the popular Twitter account @TheTweetOfGod, which as of January 2023 had 6.2 million followers.
- Joe DiPietro, American playwright, lyricist and author. He is best known for the Tony Award-winning musical Memphis, for which he won the Tony Awards for Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score as well as for writing the book and lyrics for the long-running off-Broadway show I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change.
- Greg Kotis, Tony Award-winning writer of Urinetown, Yeast Nation, and Pig Farm.
- Richard O'Brien, writer of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Shock Treatment.
- Lloyd Kaufman, co-founder of Troma Films.
Benji has worked with high-profile comedians including Jason Manford, Zoe Lyons, Mark Little, Harriet Thorpe, the Twins Macabre, and Toronto's The Second City improv troupe, and is currently developing ongoing projects with Sir Tony Robinson, Louis Theroux, Isy Suttie, Flo & Joan, and Vikki Stone.
Benji's background in devised theatre is combined with expertise in music, both as an accomplished pianist (cool) and recorder (less cool), and skills developed in stage magic alongside The Magic Circle. He has extensive knowledge of theatre, design, and stagecraft, and a wide network of designers, manufacturers, and artists to call upon.
Benji's comedy theatre shows include (as director and dramaturg) An Act Of God, Night Of The Living Dead: Live, The Toxic Avenger: The Musical, Yeast Nation, (as director and developer) Hamilton (Lewis), Holy Crap, Shock Treatment.
Other musicals Benji has directed include Liver Birds: Flying Home (Liverpool Royal Court), How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (Wilton's Music Hall), Valley of Song (Finborough Theatre), The Immortal Hour (Finborough Theatre), The Stripper (St James Theatre/The Other Palace).
Benji's shows have received numerous accolades, nominations and awards, including:
Whatsonstage Awards – Shock Treatment, Best off-West End Production (nominated)
OffWestEnd Awards – Shock Treatment, 2015, Best Musical Production, Best Actress, Best Lighting, Best Costume; Toxic Avenger, 2016, Best New Musical, Best Director, Best Actor in a Leading Role (x2), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (x2), Best Costume; The Stripper, 2017, Best Actor, Night of the Living Dead, 2019, Best Design, Best Sound Design, Best Costume Design.
Musical Theatre Review – Shock Treatment, 2017, Best New Musical; Hamilton (Lewis), 2018, Best New Musical.
Reviews of Benji's shows can be seen here. To get in contact about a project, email benji@tarquinproductions.co.uk.