Pretending Things are a Cock is the product of Bennett’s three years of global wandering, and combines the artistic, phallic-filled photographic display with hilarious and surprisingly heart-wrenching tales from Bennett’s life.
This Just for Laughs award-nominated show for Best Comedy (Montreal, 2013) has now been performed to sell-out audiences and critical acclaim world wide. The show has toured to some of the biggest festivals in the world including the renowned Edinburgh Fringe (2012) and a very successful off Broadway run at SOHO Theatre in New York City (2019/2020).
A unique stand-up experience, PTAAC is a hilarious, but also strangely affecting pot-holed journey into the idiosyncratic world of Jon Bennett.
**Just for Laughs Award nomination for Best Comedy (Montreal Fringe, 2010)
**Pick of the Fringe Award (Winnipeg Fringe, 2011)
**Selected (Just for Laughs Zoofest, 2013)
**Critics Pick of the Fringe Award (San Diego Fringe, 2014)
**Pick of the Fringe Award (Calgary Fringe, 2015)
**Pick of the Fringe Award (Boulder Fringe, 2015)
**Funniest Show Award (London Fringe, 2015)
**Best Comedy Award nominee (Hobart Fringe, 2018)
“The funniest show at the fringe. Don’t miss it. ★★★★½” - Calgary Herald
"Fantastic comedic storytelling. ★★★★½” - Channel 44
“Instantly likeable, Bennett is a deft storyteller with a frank, confessional style that blends pathos and humour to great effect. ★★★★½” – Uptown Magazine (CAN)
“Dick obsessed humour goes much deeper. ★★★★” - Now Toronto
“Bennett delivers belly laugh after belly laugh. ★★★★” - London Free Press
"As Thursday’s show let out one of the audience members said, “That wasn’t what I was expecting.” This statement is insane. ★★★★" - Saskatoon Pheonix
“Jon Bennett is such a warm and charismatic performer he turns one of the most puerile concepts into something quite special indeed. ★★★★” - Hairline Reviews (UK)
“at the end of this hilarious and thoughtful hour, no one seems to want to leave the room. ★★★★” – Edmonton Journal (CAN)
“true brilliance ★★★★” – Vue Weekly (CAN)
“surprisingly touching ★★★★” - Winnipeg Free Press (CAN)
“Bennett is a rare talent and this is one of the funniest shows at the Festival.” - The Press (NZ)
“Bennett has a near-mystical ability to spin a yarn, bringing characters and places to vivid life.” – The Skinny (UK)
“Part travelogue, part personal adventure, Bennett tells these stories engagingly, swinging nicely between the hilarious and the sublime.” – Fest Magazine (UK)
“The bad-travel stories of Bill Bryson, the familial weirdness of Augusten Burroughs, the sharp wit of David Sedaris and slides that range from the bizarre to the ridiculously hilarious.” – CBC Manitoba (CAN)
“Delightful and enthralling” – Australian Comedy Review (AUS)
“Jon is smart, funny, engaging and talented.” – The Herald Sun (AUS)
“the indisputable fact that if your inner schoolboy needs a giggle, Jon Bennett is your messiah.” – UQ Events Arts & Entertainment (CAN)
“You see, the show is about more than Jon telling funny stories on stage. It is the beginning of a friendship in which you are his confidant. It is why after the show he invites you to have a beer with him, and why I feel comfortable calling him by his first name.”- Newshit Magazine (AUS)
“It needs to be seen to be believed”
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is not your average run-of-the-mill comedy show.”
“Ever get the feeling you’re being played with by a prankster with Andy Kaufman sensibilities?”– RHUM Magazine (AUS)
“Bennett is a natural storyteller and will have you completely engrossed” – Montreal Mirror (CAN)