Click here to see Benito's entry at AusStage 

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Born into an Irish-Italian working class family in Sydney’s Inner West, Journalist, playwright, poet, performer and satirist Benito Di Fonzo has written for, and been profiled by, the best and worst of publications including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Sun Herald, The Australian, CNN, a​nd Bardfly Magazine (where he was editor).  

Benito has performed his songs, poems, stories and spoken word in London, Paris, Berlin, Edinburgh, Sydney, Melbourne, Rome, Adelaide, Perth, Ubud (Indonesia), New Orleans, Dublin, Cork and New York.

 

As well as writing radio serials and plays for 2SER and 2FBI he has had two plays broadcast live from The Sydney Opera House. He has also performed on ABC 702 & Radio National, 3RRR (Melbourne) and Resonance FM (UK) amongst others.
 

In 2005 Independence Jones Guerrilla Press published Benito’s free-verse novel “Her, Leaving, As the Acid Hits” to positive reviews.
 

His debut stage play "Breakfast At Krishna's" filled houses at Tap, Sydney in 2000. Benito’s 2010 production “The Chronic Ills of Robert Zimmerman, AKA Bob Dylan (A Lie)” was a hit of Adelaide Fringe before several sold-out seasons in Sydney and a litany of glowing reviews, resulting in the show being awarded Best of Independent Theatre 2010. It has since toured regionally and been adapted in a verse-novel available through Amazon.

 

Benito’s second Fonzo Journalistic show, “Lenny Bruce: 13 Daze Un-Dug in Sydney 1962” premiered at The Bondi Pavilion in 2013 to glowing reviews.

 

His script "Ibis" was shortlisted for Sydney Theatre Company's 2014 Patrick White Playwrights Award.

 

In November 2015 "A Riff On Keef: The Human Myth" premiered at the Stables Theatre in Sydney for Griffin Theatre Company and Ocelot Productions.

 

At Adelaide Fringe 2016, as well as Perth Fringe, Benito wrote and narrated what the Adelaide Advertisier termed in it's four-and-a-half star review, "[the] hard-bitten narration in clever Raymond Chandler style" for the hit burlesque-musical extravaganza, "Noir Revue".

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In 1995 Benito achieved a bachelors in Literature and Creative Writing at The University of Western Sydney. In 2001 he was awarded the Inner City Life Literary Award by The NSW Writers’ Centre.

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Benito performs his songs solo and with the ensemble "The Suburban Bukowskis"

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He is also a regular event host for Sydney Underground Streaming Sessions (SUSS) who live-stream bands and performance artists regularly from SUSS.net.au/ 

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Benito has also worked as a puppeteer.  ​​​

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His favourite colour is irrelevant.