It’s very apparent as he shimmies and swirls his way across the stage, swooning and crooning to a wide variety of classic hits that this man is as smooth and polished as a Ken doll crotch. 20 Golden Greats is an opportunity to showcase Bob Downe in his element, singing his way through classic songs and defining himself as one of Australia’s great performance characters.
After ending a song on a drawn-out, high pitched note and drumming up audience applause to fever pitch, Downe declares “is there no beginning to my talent”. The audience laps it up and responds voraciously to every raised eyebrow, flamboyant hair flick and cheeky innuendo that’s offered. Trevorrow clearly knows his crowd tailoring jokes to home sewers and gently jibing the men in the room for being dragged along by their better half. It’s true – a middle aged lady with her gal pal from book club would probably enjoy this more than a 24 year old male beat reviewer with his man friend. In saying that, everyone could do with a good dose of leg o’ mutton sleeves, sequins and kitsch sing-a-longs once in a while and not many people can deliver the goods like Bob Downe.
