Alexander Bennett @ Banshee Labyrinth

​Fringe mainstay Alexander Bennett's new show All It Takes places ambition, self-help, and managing the complexities of life at its core. Before even stepping into his set, Bennett points to a screen on the back wall, asking the audience what they are working hard to achieve and encouraging written responses to be dropped into a ballot box front and centre.

​Visuals play a major role throughout the hour. Bennett invites the room straight inside his psyche, using projected prompts to lead everyone through collective chants of 'Don't Panic' alongside synchronized breathing exercises. The show finds its strongest momentum when Bennett performs live vocals over original tracks, complete with pre-recorded music videos like 'Hot Sluts'. The standout moment arrives with 'Blood Clown', a narrative song where he envisions working as a children's entertainer for an East London gangster before turning into an international gun for hire. Bennett commits entirely, screaming the chorus on his knees over a heavy rock riff.

Between these theatrical leaps, Bennett relies on a steady bank of sharp observational material. He finds easy laughs in the rivalry between Tesco and Sainsbury's meal deals, childhood trips to Cadbury World, and the choice to buy full-body Victorian swimwear as a distraction from personal body image. He also opens up candidly about his mental health, past trauma, and long journey through therapy, balancing the heavy subject matter with comfortable self-deprecation about the contrast between his middle-class accent and working-class roots.

​While his broader themes of marginal gains, wants versus needs and luck do not always connect seamlessly with the rest of the show, Bennett remains a compelling host you laugh and connect with. His raw honesty, instincts, and commitment to the bit ensure the audience stays firmly on his side throughout.

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Alexander Bennett: All It Takes, Banshee Labyrinth (Cinema Room), until 30 Aug, 2.40pm, free entry – donations on exit