About Dave

Dave Benson Phillips is revered for his many career roles: presenter, entertainer, broadcaster, musician, performer, prolific writer and doer of to-do lists. His career started in 1981, at the famous Polka Children’s Theatre in Wimbledon, where he worked as a Theatre Usher. He was bitten by the performing bug and duly set out to learn the art of entertaining children. He appeared in various magic and music shows, and even helped out with the creation of props and costumes. He was eager to learn all there was to know about show business, and set himself the task of doing so.

Over the years, Dave worked his way from ‘song and dance man’ at holiday parks to his own show at the BBC, the phenomenally popular, BAFTA-nominated Get Your Own Back. He then went on to present ITV’s Wake Up In The Wild Room. He has also presented numerous other series including CITV’s Petswap, Nickelodeon’s Nick JNR, BBC Education’s Go For It, as well as Disney’s Bitesize and Playhouse Disney.

 Pantomimes have featured heavily in Dave’s career, with his appearances winning him rave reviews and full houses. Despite his hectic schedule, Dave has always found time for children with special needs, amongst whom his Makaton sign language video is extremely popular. He also donates many hours to charity work both nationally and internationally. Dave was inducted into Britain’s only Children’s Walk of Fame, as voted for by the nation’s children. His plaque can be seen at Drusilla’s Park, Sussex.

2007 was a very special year for Dave, as he got to celebrate 25 years of entertaining children! Dave performed some very special shows nationwide as a way of saying ‘thank you’ to the public for letting him do his favourite job for so long.

Since then, Dave has appeared on a number of TV shows, voiced several characters, toured the nation, performed in pantomimes, created a broadcasting unit from his bedroom during the Coronavirus pandemic, and made shows for Channels 4 and 5, and BBC Local and National TV and radio.

On top of his notoriety as a children’s presenter, Dave also DJs at clubs, events and universities around the UK. His eclectic mix of party tunes, pop hits, TV themes and rare tracks from the 50s through to the present have won him fans across the country. They lovingly refer to him as ‘Rave Benson Phillips’, or ‘the Godfather of Cheese’!

Dave is also a part-time wrestler. He participates in as many fights as his schedule will allow.