Who is Jon Bennett?
Jon Bennett? Me? Is that the question? Or who is 14 full stops? 14 full stops is 4.66666667 ellipses…
What would you do differently from what you do now?
Nothing. I have always done everything right and correct. See the above question for proof.
Who inspires you and why?
God. All of the Gods: Jesus, Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Loki, Buddah, Any deities really. The Holy Spirit! Let’s not forget that. They used to call Gary Ablett Sr “God” – so him too. He was very good. Kicked lots of goals and that’s all we really want in life is to fulfill and achieve goals – maybe out of all the gods, Gary Ablett Sr might have achieved the most literal goals.
What would you do to make a difference in the world?
Give all of my money to the Liberal Party. Wait… What kind of difference are we looking at making here? If it’s a positive difference I may need to change my original answer. Also I don’t have much money, so it really might not make that much of a difference. So if I gave it all to the Liberal Party it would probably just go to paying the Hillsong Church’s drummer – so that might make a difference to their (the Hillsong drummer) world?! But… it’d be supporting the ARTS and we know how the Liberal Party feels about that… So my answer is: I don’t know!
Favourite holiday destination and why?
Gawler in South Australia. It’s about 45 minutes drive from Adelaide which is very lucky as that is where I’m living now due to COVID. It has a nice river and about 6 pubs (All with pokies! I won $200 last week and am now considering quitting my job and making gambling my job! It’s just SO easy!).
When friends come to town, what attraction would you take them to, and why?
I feel like these questions may be a bit dated? Ain’t no friends coming to town right now. But when friends drive the 45 minute drive to Gawler, I take them to the local pub with the most pokies and we Get. To. Work.
What are you currently reading?
These questions. My cousin Andrea Broadfoot actually just wrote a book called What Wisdom Whispers – so I’ve just started that and it is great!
What are you currently listening to?
My inner thoughts and insecurities: Have I answered these questions wrong? Have I answered them like a f*ckwit? Can I write f*ckwit? Will they publish it if I do write f*ckwit? Why can’t I just answer them normally like a normal person? Damn. I AM a f*ckwit. How can I actually make a difference in the world? The world? I can’t even make a difference in my house in Gawler. It’s not even my house. It’s Travis’ (my old school friend who is letting me live rent free because I have no work anymore because I’m a performer and I lost my entire income and livelihood and he feels sorry for me) house. I’m listening to lots of Kanye West and Harmontown Podcast.
Happiness is?
I guess happiness is being a dog? Most dogs seem pretty happy? Some aren’t happy though… Well now I’m sad thinking about unhappy dogs… Thanks a lot! That said, you can’t have happiness without sadness. That’s what the Pixar movie Inside Out taught me. That is a good movie.
What does the future hold for you?
This is a very hard question to answer in the cultural climate today. I’m a performer whose livelihood was touring around the world performing in festivals. I’m learning a lot from the current state of the world, as I think we all are and I hope that by the end of this very tumultuous time we come out optimistic and activated for real global change. It’s been pointed out a lot this year, but after the bushfires I was so inspired how the arts communities jumped to action and raised a lot of money to help in any way we could during that time and I think once we are allowed to perform again that will continue to happen on an even bigger and more impactful way and I want to be a part of that.
Jon’s work, Aunty Verna, can be heard as part of Volume Three of Come to Where I Am – Australia, an exciting new writing and performance initiative from Paines Plough and Critical Stages Touring. For more information, visit: www.criticalstages.com.au for details.
Image: Jon Bennett (supplied)