Sol Bernstein is one of British comedy's most enduring character acts, brought to life by comedian Steve Jameson as a self-proclaimed elderly Jewish stand-up straight out of the old Catskills resort circuit. Complete with trademark trilby, glasses and a cigar that never leaves his hand, Sol delivers rapid-fire, deliberately old-school one-liners with a deadpan confidence that only years of stagecraft can produce. It is a fully committed persona rather than a passing impression, and it has made Sol Bernstein a genuine cult favourite on the UK club and festival circuit.
Jameson has taken Sol Bernstein to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe across multiple years with solo shows including Almost Alive, Almost Alive II, I Only Wanna Hear Good and Still Standing, and picked up the Mervyn Stutter Spirit of the Fringe award along the way. The character has clocked up close to a thousand gigs, reached the final of the Old Comedian of the Year competition at the Museum of Comedy, and appeared on television alongside Harry Hill and in Time Gentlemen Please. Sol's insult-laden, rapid-fire delivery consistently earns some of the strongest audience reactions of any night he is booked on.
Sol Bernstein is a strong booking for club nights, cabaret bills and any audience that enjoys sharp, irreverent, old-school one-liners delivered with total commitment to character. His act works especially well as a headline turn where a room wants big, confident laughs rather than gentle observation, and his decades of stage experience mean he never runs short of material. For promoters after something a little different from a standard stand-up set, Sol Bernstein delivers a genuinely distinctive night.