Edinburgh Fringe 2011

 

Taylor possesses the stage well and knows his keyboard. This is a show that is really an olpportunity for Taylor to show off his fine talent as a song writer and raconteur. He mostly sits behind a keyboard and plays some wonderfully ironic songs, with modern Cowerd-esque lyrics. He ranges the styles and did extremely well performing to an audience of just half a dozen. But here lies the achievement and the signs of a protean performer. All six of us were fully engaged and laughing. No sense of silent awkwardness – he grabbed us all and kept our interest and attention.

 

Taylor is a high quality performer, a skilled musician (with an Al Stewart-esque voice) and his comedy is story-based and impressively woven into the music.

 

This is a bit of a hidden gem on the Fringe and if you are looking for an engaging, near-the-knuckle, story-ride through music and a personal take on Hollywood, then this show is well worth catching.

 

Sometimes the monologue flows with a real sense of spontaneity; at other times it feels a bit forced as it becomes a more clunky intro to another songs. But the songs are a lot of fun, sometimes moving and moody, other times full of dry humour and a fair whack of cheekiness. A particular favourite was "I think I had coffee with Jesus" – so inappropriate. The dozen or more songs sometimes sound a bit too similar to each other and he is such a good story performer and ad-libber that one or two less songs might enhance the show. He feeds off us an an audience and it feels as if he is glad we are there! And it’s all a lot of fun and the tragic-comic narrative is full of wit.

 

A lot of the routine would work a lot better with a bigger audience and in a more cabaret style format. Robert Taylor is … So deserving of a bigger audience for this show. Recommended.