"Be afraid, be very afraid.."

In a blue shell-suit and white Hush Puppies, Bob Downe literally leaped into action on Saturday night with the vigour and hilarity of a deranged Thunderbird puppet. Balancing a perfectly groomed blonde wig and with dance steps to make Pan's People green with envy, Bob belted out 70s disco classics such as Fame, Voulez-vous coucher avec moi and Xanadu.

His fixed manic grin (which prevented him from singing most of the lyrics), those gleaming white teeth (as real as his hair !?) and fluttering eyelashes had the audience howling with laughter as Bob frolicked, wiggled and pranced like "your mum and dad in Benidorm".

The evening was a side-splitting mixture of chat, stand-up and disco music delivered with pure energy, vivacity and utter campness. In his beige safari suit, Bob terrorised the audience, poked fun at the Brits (he is convinced that the Queen is a Dalek : "Destroy ! Destroy ! OBE! OBE!") and worried about Cliff Richard's capacity for evil!

For an encore he wowed us with a psychadelic kaftan, looking like a cross between Joseph plus Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and Linda McCartney, singing "I am what I am". And the audience loved what he is.

Bob Downe is Australia's best export since Skippy the Bush Kangaroo ("She's in a retirement home now, you can pay two bucks to go and prod her with a stick !").

Hyperactive, endearing and wildly hilarious, he is a wonder in beige who left his audience screaming for more.
Kerri Howard

Bob Downe is the alter-ego of Australian journalist-turned-comedian Mark Trevorrow. Mark made his break into musical comedy in the early eighties, releasing a couple of obscure songs that nobody remembers (Tintarella Si Luna and The Beat Goes On), and in 1984 hit upon the idea of Bob Downe - a parody of a Daytime TV Presenter.

He describes him as "the synthetic showbiz all-rounder, who sings, dances and takes VERY good care of his hair". Bob came to Britain in 1988 and decided to stay, leaving the world of Daytime TV behind to concentrate on his singing career.

Bob comes from Murwillumbah ("What do you mean you've never heard of it ?! It's like Hull, with palm trees.."), a sugar cane and banana growing area just down from Brisbane on the New South Wales coast. He now lives in a caravan with his mum Ida (Ida Downe, geddit?), former Banana Queen in 1954, '55 & '57. "As you can see," says 'confirmed bachelor' Bob, I'm from a long line of Banana Queens!"

Bob is currently shying away from too much press attention, choosing not to publicise his engagement to English comedienne Lily Savage (!). He says "It's a risk I have to accept as a minor celebrity fast climbing my way to the middle."

Since Bob's creation, he has gained cult status and in 1992 won the Glasgow Mayfest award. He is perhaps best known for his appearances on Viva Cabaret, last year's Royal Variety Performance and That's Showbusiness.

Bob also has an album Bob Downe's Greatest Hits available on import through Pinnacle Records, and a TV special - The Bob Downe Special (naturally) - in the offing on ITV, through Watchmaker Productions.

Looks like the Prince of Polyester is here to stay !...
Kerri Howard