“I was going to check it out, see what was happening, take some photos,” he explains. “Then all of a sudden I’m on the 101 freeway with all these young protestors. L.A. is full of attractive people trying to make it in the industry, and they were all out protesting. I was like, ‘This is the most attractive protest ever.’
“I got trapped on the 101 because the riot police started pushing us. And then they started arresting people so I ran with a bunch of people, and jumped a fence to get off the highway.”
It’s lucky the po’ didn’t catch him, because Taylor had shit to do. While in the States, he wrote for Comedy Central and toured clubs and colleges in over ten cities. But his biggest gig the past year was back home in Australia, where the ABC commissioned a special of his show, Human, filmed at a sold-out Enmore Theatre in Sydney.
“The night the special aired, I had my phone next to me, and I’m starting to write my brand new show, and my phone was blowing up like crazy,” he says. “I had to turn it off. I had 1000 new followers on every platform within that hour. It was really intense and rewarding.
“I really am just talking about my [life] experience. I’m never manufacturing what I think audiences will like. I say what I actually care about. I put so much of myself into my stand-up. And when you get that response – ‘Oh, it’s not just me’ – it makes the world a little smaller. And less lonely.”
It’s his talent for touching on the human condition in such a funny, subtle way, that puts Taylor alongside Damien Power and a handful of comedians who can play with ideas that challenge the way you think.
“Social commentary is starting to feed through more of my show,” he says. “What I like doing is, not starting with ‘Hey this is social commentary.’ I like to do the fun accessible jokes that people like and then sneak my commentary in. If you want to come to my show and just laugh, you can do that. But you can also leave my show going, ‘There were some interesting ideas about multiculturalism in Australia or masculinity.’
“I like it when people come away going, ‘I got this extra thing out of it.’”
His new show, Spectacular-ish, was loved by critics in Adelaide, who praised his singing, dancing and magic skills – not to mention the kind of wit that gets you into the writers’ room for Jay Leno and Shaun Micallef. If you’re on the fence about giving a chance to a comedian you haven’t seen before, do what Taylor would do – jump it.
By Stick Paris
Venue: Trades Hall – The Meeting Room
Dates: Thursday March 30 – Sunday April 23 (bar Wednesdays)
Duration: 50 minutes
Tickets: $22 – $29
