Think No Evil of Us: My Life With Kenneth Williams FULL SHOW Vaudeville Theatre 1998 David Benson
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ส.ค. 2021
- The full show, recorded Saturday 14th March 1998 at the final performance of a three-week run as part of the 'Live At The Vaudeville' season at the Vaudeville Theatre, The Strand, in London's glittering West End. The show had gone from its self-produced beginnings at St. John's Church Hall, Princes Street, Edinburgh as part of the 1996 Fringe, where it was awarded a Scotsman Fringe First Award, via a UK tour in 1997, extended runs at the Kings Head, Islington, the Birmingham Rep Studio (Christmas season) and the Lyric Studio, Hammersmith all produced, like the Vaudeville run, by Mark Goucher and David Johnson of G&J Productions.
Video produced by Morris Bright and edited by Ken Burns - บันเทิง
Amazing. One of the best solo theatre performances I've ever seen. Saw this in the black box at Birmingham Rep in 1996 and I never ever forgot it. Stayed with me for years. The assembly scene genuinely terrified me, it took me right back to my 70's school days!!
For years I've wanted to see this again and now I've found it. Thank you for the upload Mr Benson. You should be justifiably proud of this brilliant brilliant work. Bravo sir. X
Thank you so much. That's really lovely to know that you enjoyed and remember the show. I loved playing it at the New Rep, in my old home city, remember the run well. 1996!
I remember seeing this show at The Hackney Empire, and David signed my programme afterwards (yes, I bought one!) The best compliment I can give is taken from something Maureen Lipman says about her portrayal of Joyce Grenfell. After the show, Reggie, JG’s husband says: “It was so lovely to see her again.” David, I pass this to you: It was so lovely to see him again.
Ah, that's a lovely compliment Steven, thank you so much. I am a great fan of Joyce too and of her great mentor Ruth Draper.
I’ve adored Kenneth Williams since I was a child. He was a true one-off so I t takes some bravery to pull off a show like this, not to mention a heck of a lot of talent. You have both Mr Benson. This is a proper performance with well observed mannerisms, not just some cheap impersonation. Brilliant job. Thanks for posting this video.
Thank you! Very glad you liked it
I was lucky enough to be in the audience for one of the Vaudeville performances and a great show it was too. My brother was lucky enough to be a student 'at the Radar' when Williams came to give a talk to all the young aspiring thesps and regaled them with his wonderful repartee. He also happened to pass him early one morning in Regents Park and Williams was in a raincoat done up to the top button, nose up in the air and alluding not to be remotely interested in any trade that might about.
Loved seeing a clip of you with Barry Cryer on the Richard & Judy show. Richard was so rude and happy to talk you down, but Barry wasn't having it all. He made sure you got due credit.
Barry was lovely, very encouraging and kind. Thanks for coming to see me at The Vaudeville all those years ago.
Absolutely brilliant. What a show. Thank you for this. Sincerely enjoyed. Stunning!
Many many thanks - so glad you enjoyed it!
@@DavidBensonActor I really did David and very much appreciated the part where you added parts from your own life. I very much related to your story. Some similarities from my childhood 😊
I've long been enamoured of Kenneth Williams - I see him as a kind of ghostly mentor to me (for better or for worse) - and since coming across this, I've kept coming back to re-watch it all. This performance gives me a strange comfort that I can scarcely describe. The whimsicality but also vulnerability of old age. As someone with an oppressively melancholic temperament and often feels lost, It somehow puts life into a larger perspective for me. Thank you, Mr. Benson for this wonderful gift. I would describe it as life-changing, to me at the very least.
Thank you Alexander, for your thoughtful and honest appreciation of my work. It certainly changed my life, creating and performing this show. Kenneth is a fickle mentor, since he was in such deep conflict with himself, but his life is a lesson to us all. Appreciate what you've got because none of us have it for long. All best to you and thanks again
My dear sir, you are a genius--and I love you
How awfully kind - thank you
Fantastic sir!!
Absolutely splendid..a mesmerising performance!
Thank you
Still as fresh today as when we shot it. Unique talent.
I just saw the pilot for your new show Dads Army Radio Show. You are doing all the old ones that never went to radio. It is a brilliant idea and you will be so good at it.
Keep on going my friend and the best of luck to you
Much love your Temple hunting friend far out in Asia ❤❤❤
Ah thank you so much, my dear old pal. Hope we will meet up again one day and catch up - you'd like the show, I think. You MUST show me one of your Temples one day!
@@DavidBensonActor I will happily show you an ancient erection, deep in the bush of course. (add Kenneth laugh here)
I have just discovered this on you tube and can honestly say it is one of the best things I have ever seen ever. What a fantastic performance and superbly written. It as every emotion . I wish I could have witnessed it In a theatre. .Brilliant.
Thank you! I very much appreciate you watching the whole show and taking time to comment. David
Thank you for the reply David. I know actors move on with different roles and different aspects of their career. Do you think it would be possible to revive this particular show for a few dates in the future. A new generation of people are now discovering Kenneth! But apart from that the show would be of interest to any theatre going audience. I wish you well kind regards.
Such a talent, thank you for sharing.
Thank you David. That is spellbinding.
Thank you!
Life is all memory
Very true - mostly unreliable
David, I was absolutely stunned by this, one of the best solo performances I've ever seen. I was particularly struck by your own reminiscences of a childhood that was, shall we say, less than bona, and by that almost Fellini-esque restaurant scene, where KW's waspish side is shown in all its ghastliness (is the unfortunate 'Russell' Mr Davies?) culminating with the absolutely heartbreaking suicide. I was just so moved. I've been sharing this video with friends all over the world. Truly wonderful. And (appropriate KW voice here) get that Frankie Howerd special uploaded at once, you great hairy fool! Mnyaaaaahaaahaahaaa!
Thank you, that was just what i needed to read this morning! I'm delighted by your response - makes me very happy to know that this performance still resonates and entertains across the years. Time to consider performing it again i think. And find a Frankie performance... thank you for sharing with your friends and for commenting. David
Hi David yes for sure if you can do another run as I missed it “Live” the first time !😄
Brilliant work David! ❤
Thanks so much for uploading the full show, David. I always wanted to see it as was a bit too young to take myself to the theatre back then to see a show under my own initiative. I am very glad to have seen it this evening. Very moving and memorable and I can relate to a great deal of the things you express and explore in the show. A classic piece of theatre. Bravo!
I am very glad to have a way to be able to give the show to new audiences who are too young to have been able to see it back in the 1990s. Many thanks for your comment.
Gosh his impersonation is goose-bump inducing. It is so very accurate. And not just the mannerisms and turns of phrase… but the actual thinking. Remarkable.
Thank you! yes, i did spend a lot of time improvising as him in private to get to know his way of thinking - to think myself into him, as it were. So glad it still comes over well today.
I’ve been waiting to see this for so long! I’d love to see David live. His ‘Goodbye To Soho’ & ‘The Private World of Kenneth Williams’ recordings are genius.
Thanks for lovely message. I'm touring this year in a show where i do some Kenneth! Hope you can make it along. www.kenwright.com/portfolio/dreamboats-and-petticoats/
I love this show so much. I have always been a fan of the carry on films and I am always a fan of the behind the scenes of them including the biopics of them, especially kenneth williams ❤
Thank you!
A masterful performance. I completely forgot I wasn't listening to the man himself.
Thank you, that's a lovely compliment
Bona, an excellent production which I sadly missed out on seeing the 1st time round, maybe one day !
Brilliant!
What a treat.
I'm so glad to have stumbled across this. I clapped then and I've just clapped again in my kitchen in Bristol. I saw you do this at the Vaudeville (I think I went on my own) and the bit that had stayed with me was the reveal and letting go when you spoke to us person to person after it had finished. Of course just find a way to love yourself. Wisest words.
Very good sounds exactly like him.
I saw this years ago at the Fringe. It is superb.
Fantastic, just fantastic. You should have millions of subs. Obviously, a lot of people have no taste for real talent
"What they want is a hymn, a prayer, and a bollocking!"
Just found this after seeing the original run! Spectacular and moving thanks so much.
This is just wonderful! I've been crying with laughter throughout, thank you Mr Benson!
I would love to see this live and hope one day you'll take it on tour again.
Fantabulosa!
".... then get yer fwiggin' feet off the stage!!"
❤
Magnificent performance thank you David , is the Frankie Howard performance also available perchance?
Thank you! I do have a copy of To Be Frank somewhere - need to dust it off and upload. Thanks for the nudge!
@@DavidBensonActor sounds great, many thanks David , Regards Mark
I’d love to see that.
He's very good. A few notes higher and he would be identical to Kenneth.
Funny, I thought maybe a notch lower. His voice was deeper than this.
@@yuelingchu4361 The same actor played Noel Coward on Goodnight Sweetheart, and he was amazing. Perhaps we'd better just agree to disagree, both be wrong, and let him get on with his magic.
But sad
Not funny
Sounds nothing like him
Good thing he was acting and not merely impersonating. The performance was superb.
@@aaropajari7058 I agree Aaro but actually he did also sound brilliantly like him, IMHO our fellow contributor needs to listen to some archive material and he'll see
@@UKArtlover He certainly did...Was not attempting to claim otherwise, only that this was far more and deeper than impersonation, especially given much of it was dedicates to the private KW...though the great man was frequently 'performing' in private just as on stage or screen. Regardless, Mr Benson was masterful and touching.
@@aaropajari7058 Absolutely
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