Excel Comedy & Mathem-antics with David Benaim

Although PowerPoint comedy shows have become a popular format, I never thought I would end up at a stand-up show about Excel, but here we are.

Excel Comedy & Mathem-antics is exactly what the title promises, and somehow also much more. David Benaim combines stand-up comedy, personal stories and live Excel demonstrations, turning spreadsheets, formulas and keyboard shortcuts into material for a surprisingly entertaining hour.

And we are not talking about just any Excel enthusiast. David is a Microsoft MVP for Excel and is considered by Microsoft to be among the top 100 or so Excel experts in the world. So when he starts revealing shortcuts and tricks, you quickly realise that your own Excel skills may be considerably less impressive than you thought. He also has a wonderful talent for pointing out the strange inconsistencies and ridiculous little decisions hidden inside Excel, and somehow making them absolutely hilarious.

The show is full of jokes, puns and painfully relatable observations about spreadsheets and office life. Between the comedy, David actually shows us how to do things faster, smarter and, in some cases, in ways I genuinely wish someone had taught me years ago.

It is a strange feeling to sit in a theatre and realise you are learning Excel while laughing.

But the spreadsheets are only part of the story. David also shares more personal moments, gradually revealing another side of himself and the experiences that shaped him. The tone shifts without ever feeling forced, and the more vulnerable parts of the show give the comedy a surprising amount of depth.

The result is much warmer than you might expect from a show centred around Microsoft’s favourite grid of tiny boxes.

Even if you are not an Excel nerd, there is plenty to enjoy. You might not understand every joke, but you will probably recognise the frustrations, the office stories and that particular feeling of discovering a shortcut that makes you wonder why you’ve been doing something the long way for the past ten years.

Excel Comedy & Mathem-antics is geeky, funny and unexpectedly personal. You can still catch this show after work on Monday and Tuesday, 7&8 September, at 1900. The Tallinn Fringe Festival continues until 18 September.

Author: Hélène