Mitch Benn
Encyclopedia
Mitch Benn is a British
musician
and stand-up comedian
known for his humorous
songs performed on BBC radio
. He is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's satirical programme The Now Show
, and has hosted other radio shows.
Benn has performed at several music festivals, and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He has also released seven comedy song albums.
, England
. He was educated at the Dovedale Primary School, the then all boys grammar school Liverpool Blue Coat School
, followed by the University of Edinburgh
, where he was a prominent member of the Edinburgh University Theatre Company at the Bedlam Theatre
and performed in the Improverts
improvised comedy troupe. He began his comedy career in Edinburgh
in 1994, moved to London
in 1996 and quickly established himself as a comedy club "headliner" as well as a favourite on the university circuit. He is married to Clara and has two daughters, Greta and Astrid (born in November 2005 and May 2008 respectively).
Benn has on several occasions stated the pride he has over his viking
ancestry, although question remain if it is true or just said for comical effect in regard to him having several songs about vikings.
where he has been a regular contributor to The Now Show
since 1999, and BBC Radio 2
's It's Been a Bad Week
(since 2000). He is also an occasional contributor to Jammin'
on BBC Radio 2. In 2004 he created his own aptly named series, Mitch Benn's Crimes Against Music
on Radio 4, featuring Robin Ince
and Alfie Joey
; this has now run to three series. In 2005 he started a series for BBC7 called The Mitch Benn Music Show where he plays records of comic songs and invites musical comedians into the studio to perform. He took a small role as Pseudopodic Creature in the Quintessential Phase of Radio 4's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
in 2005. He regularly appears on BBC Radio 2
's Steve Wright Show as the voice of Elvis in the "Ask Elvis" feature.
On television Mitch Benn appears on a semi-regular basis on BBC One
's consumer affairs programme Watchdog
.
Mitch has performed stand-up on Live At Jongleurs and The Comedy Store for the Paramount Comedy Channel, as well as two appearances with his band The Distractions (see below) for The World Stands Up (Paramount/Comedy Central
). He appeared as "King Wonderful" in the CBBC
comedy show Stupid!
and has contributed to a couple of "talking head" nostalgia shows; X-Rated; The Videos They Tried To Ban (Channel 4
) and Fifty Greatest Comedy Characters (Five). He also contributes occasional songs to Channel 4
's Bremner, Bird and Fortune
.
Benn regularly plays live shows at clubs and festivals in the United Kingdom
, and has toured extensively overseas, including South Africa
, Hong Kong
and Singapore
. In August 2007 he completed a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe
, performing a two hour show, The Mitch Benn Music Club, with The Distractions. He completed his most recent national UK tour in December 2008, the Sing Like an Angel tour, which coincided with the release of his sixth album, of the same name. Mitch Benn tours the UK again during October and November 2009.
In November 2010 he released "I'm Proud of the BBC", a song listing many of the corporation's achievements. The track was available for download-only and made it to 11th in the Independent Singles Chart.
Twitter
Benn launched an attempt on The Now Show during its 26th series broadcast between March and April 2009 to increase his follows. Annoyed at the fact that only a few people followed him on Twitter
, Benn planned to make himself the "King of Twitter" by getting the show's 1.5 million listeners to follow his account and therefore have more followers than Stephen Fry
, who he claimed was the current king. Within a week of his announcement, the number of people following Benn more than tripled, from about 1,200 followers to just under 4,000. Later in the same series, Benn performed a song expressing his anger that Coldplay
beat him into having more followers than Fry first, making remarks that it was not the band themselves posting messages and that as the band has four members, the number of followers should have been divided by four. Benn also mentioned that some of his followers were worried that he was becoming too obsessed with Twitter. In the last episode of the series, Benn wrote what he claimed was his final Twitter song, which specially featured Fry telling Benn that if he renounced his claim as King of Twitter, Fry would make him "Viceroy of Facebook
", which Benn did. Benn also referenced the passing of the one million mark on the site.
In October 2009, "The History Of The World Through Twitter", co-written by Benn and his fellow Now Show presenter Jon Holmes
, is to be published by Prion Books.
Together with his wife, Benn runs a Twitter account called "Things Greta Says", where they post any amusing quotes said by their five-year-old daughter Greta. The page currently has over 3,000 followers.
(2004), and Crimes Against Music
(2005). The single "Everything Sounds Like Coldplay
Now" was released in September 2005 as a taster for the album, hitting the lower regions of the UK chart, and, , the video (see external link) is still receiving heavy rotation on the Paramount Comedy Channel. The Distractions are Kirsty Newton of the band Siskin
(vocals
, bass
and keyboard
) and Ivan Sheppard (drums
), who replaced Tash Baylis (also of Weapons) in 2006. Mitch provides most of the vocals
and plays the guitar
. As well as touring and releasing material, the band support Mitch Benn for some of his comedy programmes, such as the Mitch Benn's Crimes Against Music.
In October 2007, a fifth album, The Official Edinburgh Bootleg 2007 (swiftly dubbed "The Brown Album" because of its mock brown paper cover art), recorded on the final night of his show at the Edinburgh Fringe, was made available exclusively to those who attended his Autumn 2007 tour.
In March 2008, Mitch Benn released the single "Happy Birthday War", to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War, with an accompanying video.
The release of his sixth album, Sing Like an Angel, coincided with his autumn 2008 tour of the same name. The title track, featuring Rick Wakeman
on piano, was released as a single on iTunes
on 1 September 2008. A video was produced to accompany the single.
In October 2009, Benn released his seventh album, Where Next?.
Mitch Benn uses and endorses Line 6 guitars and amplification. His current on-stage rig consists of a Variax
700 (replacing the Variax 500 as seen on the cover of Crimes Against Music
) played through a PodxtLive.
, and has played there every year since.
In May 2007 he won BBC Radio Merseyside
's "Scouseology" award for his work on radio.
In October 2007 he was awarded "Personality of the Year" at the final Cult TV convention
In January 2008, Mitch Benn was listed among the "Scouserati", a list of 365 culturally significant Liverpudlians published by the Liverpool Echo
to commemorate the beginning of Liverpool's tenure as the European Capital Of Culture
.
programme in January 2011; according to his Twitter
account by the end of June 2011 he had lost over 10 stone (140lb/64kg).
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and stand-up comedian
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
known for his humorous
Comedy rock
Comedy rock is rock music mixed with comedy, often satire and parody.-History:Early USA examples include Stan Freberg, who lampooned artists such as Elvis Presley, Harry Belafonte and The Platters, and Sheb Wooley whose "Purple People Eater" reached No...
songs performed on BBC radio
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
. He is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's satirical programme The Now Show
The Now Show
The Now Show is a British radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, which satirises the week's news. The show is a mixture of stand-up, sketches and songs presented by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis...
, and has hosted other radio shows.
Benn has performed at several music festivals, and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He has also released seven comedy song albums.
Early life
Mitch Benn was born in LiverpoolLiverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He was educated at the Dovedale Primary School, the then all boys grammar school Liverpool Blue Coat School
Liverpool Blue Coat School
The Liverpool Blue Coat School is a voluntary aided secondary school located in Wavertree, Liverpool and is Liverpool's only Grammar School. The school was for many years a boys' school but as of September 2002 it has reverted to its original coeducational remit.The Blue Coat School holds a...
, followed by the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
, where he was a prominent member of the Edinburgh University Theatre Company at the Bedlam Theatre
Bedlam Theatre
Bedlam Theatre is a student-run theatre owned by the University of Edinburgh and notable for being the oldest student-run theatre in Britain.It is housed in the former New North Free Church building at the foot of George IV Bridge in Edinburgh; a building which was designed by Thomas Hamilton, an...
and performed in the Improverts
Improverts
The Improverts is the long-running improvisational comedy troupe of the Edinburgh University Theatre Company which primarily performs out of the Bedlam Theatre, Edinburgh...
improvised comedy troupe. He began his comedy career in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
in 1994, moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1996 and quickly established himself as a comedy club "headliner" as well as a favourite on the university circuit. He is married to Clara and has two daughters, Greta and Astrid (born in November 2005 and May 2008 respectively).
Benn has on several occasions stated the pride he has over his viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
ancestry, although question remain if it is true or just said for comical effect in regard to him having several songs about vikings.
Radio and television
He features on BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
where he has been a regular contributor to The Now Show
The Now Show
The Now Show is a British radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, which satirises the week's news. The show is a mixture of stand-up, sketches and songs presented by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis...
since 1999, and BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
's It's Been a Bad Week
It's Been a Bad Week
It’s Been a Bad Week is a British radio comedy on BBC Radio 2, first broadcast on 11 February 1999. It is presented by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis, and is also referred to as Punt and Dennis: It's Been a Bad Week. More than 100 episodes have been broadcast , the latest series ending on 22 June 2006....
(since 2000). He is also an occasional contributor to Jammin'
Jammin'
Jammin' is a musical comedy show on BBC Radio 2 in the United Kingdom. It is presented by Rowland Rivron, who also plays drums. In addition to Rowland, there are two regulars in the band, and two guests - usually one comedian and one musician. The two regulars are usually Dave Catlin-Birch and...
on BBC Radio 2. In 2004 he created his own aptly named series, Mitch Benn's Crimes Against Music
Mitch Benn's Crimes Against Music
Mitch Benn's Crimes Against Music is a BBC Radio 4 comedy series, taking a satirical look at popular music. It is written by and stars Mitch Benn and Robin Ince. It also features Mitch's group The Distractions and in the first two series Alfie Joey...
on Radio 4, featuring Robin Ince
Robin Ince
Robin Ince is an English stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is best known for presenting the BBC radio show The Infinite Monkey Cage .-Stand-up comedy:...
and Alfie Joey
Alfie Joey
Alfie Joey is a British comedian and radio presenter. He currently co-presents the BBC Newcastle breakfast show.He has featured in numerous radio and television shows, such as Mitch Benn's Crimes Against Music and Ideal...
; this has now run to three series. In 2005 he started a series for BBC7 called The Mitch Benn Music Show where he plays records of comic songs and invites musical comedians into the studio to perform. He took a small role as Pseudopodic Creature in the Quintessential Phase of Radio 4's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon...
in 2005. He regularly appears on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
's Steve Wright Show as the voice of Elvis in the "Ask Elvis" feature.
On television Mitch Benn appears on a semi-regular basis on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
's consumer affairs programme Watchdog
Watchdog (TV series)
Watchdog is a BBC television series that investigates viewers' reports of problematic experiences with traders, retailers, and other companies around the UK...
.
Mitch has performed stand-up on Live At Jongleurs and The Comedy Store for the Paramount Comedy Channel, as well as two appearances with his band The Distractions (see below) for The World Stands Up (Paramount/Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
). He appeared as "King Wonderful" in the CBBC
CBBC
CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...
comedy show Stupid!
Stupid!
Stupid! was a British television comedy sketch show aimed at children of primary and secondary school age, which was first broadcast on CBBC and subsequently BBC One.-Main characters:...
and has contributed to a couple of "talking head" nostalgia shows; X-Rated; The Videos They Tried To Ban (Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
) and Fifty Greatest Comedy Characters (Five). He also contributes occasional songs to Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's Bremner, Bird and Fortune
Bremner, Bird and Fortune
Bremner, Bird and Fortune is an award-winning satirical British television programme produced by Vera Productions for Channel Four, uniting the longstanding satirical team of John Bird and John Fortune with the satirical impressionist Rory Bremner.The show started in 1999. The fourteenth series...
.
Benn regularly plays live shows at clubs and festivals in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and has toured extensively overseas, including South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. In August 2007 he completed a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe
Edinburgh Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place annually in Scotland's capital, in the month of August...
, performing a two hour show, The Mitch Benn Music Club, with The Distractions. He completed his most recent national UK tour in December 2008, the Sing Like an Angel tour, which coincided with the release of his sixth album, of the same name. Mitch Benn tours the UK again during October and November 2009.
In November 2010 he released "I'm Proud of the BBC", a song listing many of the corporation's achievements. The track was available for download-only and made it to 11th in the Independent Singles Chart.
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
, Benn planned to make himself the "King of Twitter" by getting the show's 1.5 million listeners to follow his account and therefore have more followers than Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
, who he claimed was the current king. Within a week of his announcement, the number of people following Benn more than tripled, from about 1,200 followers to just under 4,000. Later in the same series, Benn performed a song expressing his anger that Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
beat him into having more followers than Fry first, making remarks that it was not the band themselves posting messages and that as the band has four members, the number of followers should have been divided by four. Benn also mentioned that some of his followers were worried that he was becoming too obsessed with Twitter. In the last episode of the series, Benn wrote what he claimed was his final Twitter song, which specially featured Fry telling Benn that if he renounced his claim as King of Twitter, Fry would make him "Viceroy of Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
", which Benn did. Benn also referenced the passing of the one million mark on the site.
In October 2009, "The History Of The World Through Twitter", co-written by Benn and his fellow Now Show presenter Jon Holmes
Jon Holmes
Jon Holmes is a seven time Sony award-winning and double Bafta winning British writer, comedian and broadcaster.-Early life:...
, is to be published by Prion Books.
Together with his wife, Benn runs a Twitter account called "Things Greta Says", where they post any amusing quotes said by their five-year-old daughter Greta. The page currently has over 3,000 followers.
Albums
Mitch has released seven CDs to date: The Unnecessary Mitch Benn (1998), a collection of favourite live songs, recorded on a Walkman carried in his pocket at various gigs that year; Radio Face (2002), including material previously heard on Radio 2 and Radio 4; and, with The Distractions, Too Late To CancelToo Late To Cancel
Too Late To Cancel is the third album by Mitch Benn, released in 2004 under the name of 'Mitch Benn and The Distractions' and featuring his backing band composed of Kirsty Newton and Tasha Baylis. All songs were written by Mitch Benn...
(2004), and Crimes Against Music
Crimes Against Music
Crimes Against is the fourth album by Mitch Benn, released in 2005 under the name of 'Mitch Benn and The Distractions' and featuring his backing band composed of Kirsty Newton and Tasha Baylis...
(2005). The single "Everything Sounds Like Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
Now" was released in September 2005 as a taster for the album, hitting the lower regions of the UK chart, and, , the video (see external link) is still receiving heavy rotation on the Paramount Comedy Channel. The Distractions are Kirsty Newton of the band Siskin
Siskin (band)
Siskin are a British pop music duo. The ensemble consists of Galen Ayers, daughter of musician Kevin Ayers, and Kirsty Newton. Galen Ayers lists her contributions as “vocals, guitars, lyrics, elegance” and credits her friend and fellow singer-songwriter Kirsty Newton with “keys, bass, vocals,...
(vocals
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
) and Ivan Sheppard (drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
), who replaced Tash Baylis (also of Weapons) in 2006. Mitch provides most of the vocals
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
and plays the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
. As well as touring and releasing material, the band support Mitch Benn for some of his comedy programmes, such as the Mitch Benn's Crimes Against Music.
In October 2007, a fifth album, The Official Edinburgh Bootleg 2007 (swiftly dubbed "The Brown Album" because of its mock brown paper cover art), recorded on the final night of his show at the Edinburgh Fringe, was made available exclusively to those who attended his Autumn 2007 tour.
In March 2008, Mitch Benn released the single "Happy Birthday War", to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War, with an accompanying video.
The release of his sixth album, Sing Like an Angel, coincided with his autumn 2008 tour of the same name. The title track, featuring Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman
Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes...
on piano, was released as a single on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
on 1 September 2008. A video was produced to accompany the single.
In October 2009, Benn released his seventh album, Where Next?.
Mitch Benn uses and endorses Line 6 guitars and amplification. His current on-stage rig consists of a Variax
Variax
Variax is a line of modeling guitars marketed and developed by Line 6. It claims to be the first guitar able to emulate the tones of other notable electric and acoustic guitars. It also has a banjo and a sitar tone...
700 (replacing the Variax 500 as seen on the cover of Crimes Against Music
Crimes Against Music
Crimes Against is the fourth album by Mitch Benn, released in 2005 under the name of 'Mitch Benn and The Distractions' and featuring his backing band composed of Kirsty Newton and Tasha Baylis...
) played through a PodxtLive.
Awards
In 1995 Mitch Benn won the Best New Comedian competition at the Glastonbury FestivalGlastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
, and has played there every year since.
In May 2007 he won BBC Radio Merseyside
BBC Radio Merseyside
BBC Radio Merseyside is the BBC Local Radio service for the English metropolitan county of Merseyside and north Cheshire. It was the third BBC local radio station to launch on 22 November 1967 initially serving the south west of historic Lancashire....
's "Scouseology" award for his work on radio.
In October 2007 he was awarded "Personality of the Year" at the final Cult TV convention
In January 2008, Mitch Benn was listed among the "Scouserati", a list of 365 culturally significant Liverpudlians published by the Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
The Liverpool Echo is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Saturday, and is Liverpool's evening newspaper while its sister paper, the Liverpool Daily Post, is the morning paper...
to commemorate the beginning of Liverpool's tenure as the European Capital Of Culture
European Capital of Culture
The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by theEuropean Union for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong European dimension....
.
Weight Loss
Having always struggled with obesity (a previous slimming attempt in 2008 having been covered in his blog Mitch Benn began the Lighter Life very low calorie dietVery Low Calorie Diet
Very low calorie diet is a diet with very or extremely low daily food energy consumption. It is defined as a diet of per day or less. VLCDs are formulated, nutritionally complete, liquid meals containing 800 kilocalories or less per day. VLCDs also contain the recommended daily requirements for...
programme in January 2011; according to his Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
account by the end of June 2011 he had lost over 10 stone (140lb/64kg).
Albums
- The Unnecessary Mitch Benn (1998)
- Radio Face (2002)
- Too Late To Cancel (2004)
- Crimes Against Music (2005)
- The Official Edinburgh Bootleg 2007 (2007)
- Sing Like An Angel (2008)
- Where Next? (2009)
Singles
- Everything Sounds Like Coldplay Now (2005)
- Happy Birthday War (2008)
- I'm Proud of the BBC (2010)