h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Sorry you got no information from source, Mike. Drop me an e-mail (see post 14) and I'll send you something which will help fill in a few gaps.

Icy

Thanks for the article, icy. It was an interesting read, but I couldn't find anything there which would really help the entry.

Yes, having read it again, I can see it's not written in an easily-referenceable way.

Oh well, we tried!

Entry: Mitch Benn - musician, satirist and impressionist. - A50709981
Author: mikeyc0312 - U612358

Ooh - now I've read it. That was nice and short!

I think Mitch Benn is quite sexy, and enjoy his songs immensely. However, as an expat, I don't have so much exposure to things that you lot take for granted, so:

Please expand and explain who Bremner, Bird and Fortune are. (I think I can place Bremner, but I'm sure the people I associate with the other names aren't the right ones).

Also: "The Mitch Benn Music Show and Mitch Benn’s Crimes Against Music, were these radio or TV programmes? Which programme broadcast them?



There were some clips linked to recently from the Now Show site, showing him performing at another festival. I think it was the one in Suffolk - yup, here it is

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/latitude/mitch-benn/

Latitude.



Perhaps a bit more could be added regarding what his speciality is. I've only ever heard him on the Now Show, but I was always amazed at how he manages to write songs that sound similar but not quite exactly like other songs, and, particularly, that he can parody all types of music from Barber Shop via Heavy Metal, 50s rock'n' roll or electronic pop to rap and hiphop.

I assume most of his act is based on this amazing talent.

On Thursday, some of you may have noticed Mitch pop up on Watchdog. According to Mitch's Twitter page, he has been commisioned to write another song for the second show, meaning that it seems more likely than before that this will become a long running piece. I will update the article once this series of Watchdog is over with the songs Mitch writes for it.

Okay! thanks for letting us know. We will look forward to your return.

Don't forget us mind,


is there anything else you would consider writing about in the meantime Mikey?

I'm currently trying to decide what to write about next. I have several other ideas for entries and am currently working out which one I will be able to don most justice to.

good stuff Mikey!

So, have you got that information yet, mikey?

As I promised a few weeks ago, I have added the information on Mitch Benn's songs on Watchdog. I have also changed one or two other parts due to more recent information (basically I went to see his most recent show a couple of weeks ago). I now believe it is qite unlikely that this entry will be altered any more.

Hi Mikey,

Just a couple of nitpicks. Can you please change the dates to House Style

ie 20 January, 1970

Also, please remove the 'Note' at the bottom of the Entry it really isn't necessary.

Once the changes are made, I think this might be ready for recommendation


lil x

I've made the changes you mentioned, lil

It looks good to me, mikey!


lil x

Thanks

You did all the work, it should be me thanking *you*!

Hi Mikey. Well done - this is looking like a robustly written and edited Entry.

We were just wondering if you were able to act on Trillian's Child's suggestion on clarifying which programmes were radio and which TV in the Career section, and the dates on these. We think Benn's been contributing to The Now Show since 1999 so it would be nice to clarify that. Also do you have anything on Benn's recent bid to claim Stephen Fry's crown as the 'King of Twitter' - just a line would do.

With these extra details in place this would be ready for the next stage of submission into the guide.

Thanks
h2g2Eds

I've added a short paragraph on the bid for 'King of Twitter' and added some more information on the series Mitch created himself.

Hi Mickey. Those additions are excellent, so thanks for adding those in. One thing - the Twitter paragraph could be a section in its own right, possibly after the Watchdog paragraph as it's among his most recent activities.

Just rounding up some of the previous suggestions, have you thought about expanding the first sentence slightly, just picking up on Trillian's Child's suggestion on clarifying who Benn is from the off. ie:

'Mitch Benn is a large1 Liverpudlian comedian and musician, known for his scathingly accurate song parodies.'

Also, picking up on questions about his career between Edinburgh and The Now Show, the biography on Benn's website is quite useful for this (http://www.mitchbenn.com/biography/). Can we suggest the following to be added at the start of the Career section (plus there's a bit of clarification of the TV/radio series and Bremner, et al, as mentioned by Trillian's Child):

'After cutting his performance teeth in Edinburgh, in 1996 Mitch moved to London and quickly established his credentials on the comedy club circuit, also becoming a favourite on university campuses. Since then Mitch has created songs for many well known satirical radio and TV shows, including BBC Radio 4’s The Now Show – which he has been contributing to since 1999 – and It’s Been a Bad Week, and occasional pieces for the Channel 4 series Bremner, Bird and Fortune, starring satirists Rory Bremner, John Bird and John Fortune...'

These are just suggestions, of course. Please feel free to ignore some, if not all, of them.

Thanks again for all your work on this Entry.
h2g2Eds

Sorry, Mikey not Micky - apols. Our eyes aren't what they used to be...