Self-deprecation only works when the storytelling is this good. And throughout his 50-plus minutes onstage, Simon Taylor laid on the laughs thick and fast. The local lad walked us through his plan for the evening: some crowd work, magic (mixed with crowd work), some singing and some jokes. The good thing is, there were ‘jokes’ just about everywhere. During Human, Simon even demonstrated that a few unexpected card tricks with an unsuspecting audience member could actually be funny.
Simon navigated the murky but hilarious waters of Middle Eastern and United States relations before jumping at the chance to give us a pretty great history lesson on the Australian-Italian accent. Simon’s 1990 Mitsubishi Magna also got a fair run for its money. His tales of travelling to perform in Swan Hill sees Simon put a few hecklers in their place, and gave me some brutal mental images. Brutal, but funny.
Being Simon Taylor means that road rage consists of impromptu Disney sing-alongs. Unlike some comics, Simon is a normal guy. We’d been warned about it already, but when the moment comes, none of us were ready for Simon to treat us to his own version of A Whole New World from Aladdin. His lyrics cover all the insecurities that come with living as a beer-hating, vegetarian from North Carlton. He’ll never be an alpha male. Never been able to change a tire. And possibly, never be able to ‘get the girl’. Struggle and suffering is nearly always funny, but it’s even better when it’s delivered this well.
Having honed Human in Adelaide and Perth, it’s clear that Simon has worked hard to craft a show that comes off so effortless. And from the first word that Simon said, the self-proclaimed hipster maintained a constant theme throughout.
BY RYAN NAJESKI
