Review by Steve Bennett

American comic Danny Bevins has an appealingly snarky, contrary and nihilistic attitude that adds a lot of texture to his blunt, no-nonsense stand-up.

His material is coloured by a dark world view that humanity is essentially stupid and pointless, and that nothing ultimately matters. His brusque snappiness could come across as anger at that state of affairs, but really he’s very accepting of the fact, just short on patience with those who don’t share that view.

He has an interesting background. From the Deep South, his mum was a happy-clappy Christian, his father a green beret – and Bevins himself followed his dad into the military, becoming an airborne infantryman in the first Gulf war, before turning to comedy. There’s mention of a stint in jail, but we never hear more – that must be another show.

But here he explains the allure of Army life – the camaraderie and, let’s be frank, the chance to blow stuff up – as well as colouring in that family environment; in particular taking a warped sense of pride in the fact he was an unwanted pregnancy. ‘I’ve been pissing people off since I was a zygote,’ he rumbles.

Bevins has the sort of innate authority a stint with the armed forces engenders, yet carries himself with the impatient weariness of the most grizzled of road comics. His material, though, strives for more than most of his peers, exposing home truths with a clear, well-defined world view. Though he largely avoids familiar issues, he’ll sometimes venture an opinion on paedophile Catholic priests, for instance, though he ensures his take on the subject is his alone.

In truth, his moodily appealing persona and inherent charisma allow him to be less gag-driven than many a comic – and so the laughs can be more tempered. But there’s rarely a dull moment in between, as he’s such an charismatic, engaging presence you simply want to hear what he says next, whether it ends in a chuckle or not. Because of this a few yarns are a little too long, though nothing too damaging.

Like his home state of Kentucky’s most famous export, bourbon, Bevins is distinctive, a little rough, and pretty damn potent.

Review date: 6 Aug 2011
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett