Bentley, the irascible West Country comedian once described as ‘the drinking woman’s Jethro’, returns to Bridport Electric Palace on 12 December for a fun-filled night of mayhem.

He’s back in the driving seat of Bentley’s Laughing Cabaret, featuring a host of off-the-wall acts, five years after the Dorset Echo reported on his swansong appearance at the 1920s venue.

So what’s temporarily tempted him away from his day job of working around the world on dive vessels?

“I was asked by the Electric Palace if I would do another one-man show but with the last one being so successful I wanted to just rest on those laurels,” he says.

“But I’m always right up for putting on something a bit special and out of the ordinary so I said that if I could find the right acts I would do a one-off beaujangler.”

So what’s he been doing with himself since 2010 when the Echo described the Bridport show as ‘the end of an era’?

“As usual I’ve been at sea working out in Asia, six weeks on and off driving specialist ships.

"When not doing that I have been working with Mrs B restoring our old ruins in central Brittany.

“Comedy-wise I’ve done the occasional gig if asked when in the country, and I have gigged in Singapore when on transit through.”

Although Bentley was already appearing in pubs around Bridport in the mid-1980s, it wasn’t until 1992 that his comedy career really got going with a gig at Nick’s Dive in Eype.

“We were up in London and I wanted to check out the Comedy Store and while we were there my wife said I was just as funny, so why not try it. Then the Echo put a piece in the paper saying I was starting up a comedy club and it went from there.”

Once he was on a roll, Bentley started bringing up-and-coming comedians from the London circuit down to the West Country.

But has he always been funny?

“I’ve always been able to look at life slightly askance and see the humour in most situations and I was always a bit of joker at school,” he recalls. “I say joker but the teachers probably would have referred to it as being a pain in the arse. I never had problem with the work in school, although, like most people, I learnt more once I had left.”

The acts Bentley has chosen for his show at Bridport Electric Palace are all completely different in genre. But he says they all have one thing in common: “They are exceptional at what they do. I have worked with all but one of them many times and have complete confidence in the audience remembering this night for a long time.”

The line-up includes Professor Voltini, with nurse Electra, who does an electrical extravaganza show with lightning bolts shooting off in all directions and with a wow factor that is off the scale.

Bentley, clearly reveling in his choice of acts, says: “This comes from the real old-school style of Victorian traveling shows and brings with it a modern and shocking twist.

“Then there is Dave Thompson, a remarkable stand-up comedian who brings a portion of the bizarre to your world. Dave Thompson was the first ever proper stand-up comedian from what used to be known as the alternative circuit to play Bridport back in 1993. He introduced me to all the main acts of the time and I am eternally grateful to him for that.

“Martin Soane is recognised as the best prop-orientated comedian in the UK or anywhere else. He takes the audience on an exquisite journey in the company of, among other things, random household objects. He is one of the original founders of The Greatest Show on Legs and so the night is likely to end with a Balloon Dance.

“Brian Damage and Krystal Clear have music, jokes, glorious interplay between them and a wonderful warm act that can enliven any stage. They start gently but very quickly you realise what an awesome talent they are.

“And then there is Woody Bop Muddy. Sit back, buckle up and get ready for the master of anarchy, as the Record Graveyard fuses with your inner psycho. You will be screaming and shouting to either SAVE or NAIL your favourite vinyl as he spins them and bins them, plays them and slays them. You think you won’t shout out you think you can control yourself, but you won’t be able to. No one ever can.”

Bridport comedian Tom Glover is the only act Bentley hasn’t worked with before, which he says he has wanted to put right for some time.

“He is the new, thrusting young blade of comedy in the town who regularly comperes the comedy shows in Bridport Arts Centre. He has been making a good name for himself up and down the country as a sharp, funny comic and comes to me highly recommended.

“I thought it a fantastic opportunity to introduce him to the wider, more eclectic comedy audience that Bridport has developed over the last 23 years through Bentley’s Laughing Cabaret and I am sure they will take him to their hearts, as they have done me.

“I hope he goes on to keep a top quality comedy club running in Bridport for many years to come, if for no other reason than it gives me the chance to tread the boards now and again.”

So, in compering the show on 12 December, will Bentley be giving it that special, Bridport twist?

“I will be the hammer that knocks the nail in, by linking the whole show together,” he says. “I absolutely adore playing to the Bridport comedy crowd because they know me well. I am on first name terms with most of them and they have come to trust me over the years to always put on something a bit special and I won’t be letting them down this time.

“The bond I feel between the Bridport audience and myself is truly a thing of great beauty and I am always humbled by the warmth I receive when I stroll out onto the stage for them.

“There have been a few changes in Bridport recently (as there always is) and of course I will be bringing attention to them, along with my usual irreverent look at life in general.”

Asked to sum up the show in only three words, Bentley signs off with the immortal line: “Bring spare pants.”

Bentley’s Laughing Cabaret

Woody Bop Muddy, Voltini, Dave Thompson, Brian Damage and Krysstal Clear, Martin Soan, Tom Glover, Bentley and the Dr Funk Disco.

Doors 7pm / start 8pm

£14 (£12.50 + £1.50p bf) advance / £18 on door

Doors 7pm / start 8pm

Pre-show dinner 5.30pm -7pm (Show starts 8pm)

Dinner and Show £30 advance sales only (incl reserved seating)