End of an era in Bridport for Bentley (From Dorset Echo)

End of an era in Bridport for Bentley

10:34am Wednesday 27th January 2010

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THE curtain falls on a comic era in Bridport next month when Bentley, who has been making the town laugh for the past 18 years, hosts his swansong at the Electric Palace on February 13.

He admits he will feel quite emotional on the night but is also looking forward to moving away from the town to Brittany, where he and his wife Jilly are building their dream home.

“Oh, there will be a tear in my eye on the night,” he said. “But I won’t be abandoning Bridport – how can I when my daughter lives here and so does my mother-in-law?

“I love the place, it is my home. You come over the hill by Askerswell on the main road from Dorchester and you see the view in front of you and there it is – home.

“But at the moment, we are building our dream home about 150 miles south of Bridport’s South Street on our own land and living in a shed while we do it.”

When not making people laugh, Bentley works around the world on dive vessels and is currently working in the South China Sea.

Although he was already appearing in pubs around Bridport in the mid-1980s, it wasn’t until 1992 that his comedy career really got going with a gig at Nick’s Dive in Eype.

“We were up in London and I wanted to check out the Comedy Store and while we were there my wife said I was just as funny so why not try it. Then the Echo put a piece in the paper saying I was starting up a comedy club and it went from there.”

Once he was on a roll, Bentley started bringing up-and-coming comedians from the London circuit down to the West Country.

Dylan Moran (‘we had a whale of a time together’), Ian Cognito, Justin Lee Collins and Matt Lucas were just some of the funnymen he brought to the region.

“Matt Lucas played a character called Sir Bernard Chumley but then he became famous as George Dawes on Shooting Stars and that is all that people wanted him to do,” Bentley said.

Other comedians used different techniques.

“At my first gig there was a comedian who had a suitcase full of hats and every time he told a joke he would pick one up and put it on.

“And then I realised – all his jokes were written inside the hats and he was reading them as he picked them up.”

Bentley has promised that his Swansong, will be packed with old and new material.

“It will be a homage to some of the best acts I have worked with and will also be a bit of a history of comedy in Bridport,” he explained.

“Some of my compering slots over the years have turned into full-blown routines and I will be doing some of those as well, and at the end I will be doing some of my songs. It might get a bit rude!

“There will be some stuff that people haven’t heard before and it will be a brilliant night.”

Tickets for Bentley’s Swansong cost £8 in advance, £10 on the door.

Call 01308 428354 for bookings and full details. The Electric Palace is offering a special promotion on cider and lager for the night.

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