Pete Bennett's Tourette's and Stuff

Unpolished but candid and funny set from Big Brother winner
Back in 2006, Pete Bennett spent the summer trapped in a building making people laugh. Now free of the shackles of Big Brother, he presents his one-man show, an autobiographical highlights package of his life with Tourette’s Syndrome. Interestingly, Bennett presents his condition not as an ailment but as something he cherishes, admitting that the tics distract his train of thought, ensuring that this is not, by any stretch, a polished show.
At times it feels like a confessional, particularly in his liberal employment of daft voices and occasional use of puppets. He sometimes uses these props to venture into darker territory, such as his disquieting relationship with an uncle who wields the sinister-sounding ‘Fred the stick’. There’s less Big Brother material here than some fans may like, and he seems almost reticent to bring it up.
Indeed, despite the benefits his fame has brought (like ‘chavs’ now applauding rather than attacking him in the street) he seems rather disinterested in fame and laments that his Wikipedia entry has forever tarred him with his past dalliances with drugs. ‘Tourette’s is funny,’ he assures us, and his supersonic stream-of-consciousness is sometimes hilarious and always candid.
Cabaret Voltaire, 226 0000, until 29 Aug, 7.30pm, £8–£9 (£7–£8).