He sure does

By Joana Simmons

He’s suave, he’s stellar, he’s spellbinding. He’s Simon Taylor and he is an abundance of talent and charm in his one-man show- Simon Taylor Does a Whole Bunch of Cool Stuff. Let me just say here, the title lives up to and exceeds its name in this well-structured, well-timed and well-isn’t-he-lovely show.

Opening with an epic escape act, he lights up the stage and the faces in the audience (quite a few, considering it’s a cold Tuesday night.) Simon is charming and charismatic, warming us up with some great banter, tales of his life in his new home, Los Angeles, and a trick he learned at The Magic Castle. I was the lucky one who was escorted onto the stage to pick the card, and I couldn’t believe how the magic unfolded. Card tricks aside; Simon Taylor is the Jack-of-all-trades. The things that come out of his mouth, some magic, some musical, are all delivered with skill and energy.  It’s showmanship at its best.

By about 20 minutes in, the audience is thoroughly on board and joining in the sing-a-long to Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie”, providing backing vocals, and whooping and gasping for all of Simon’s moves in all the right places. In a show like this, it’s hard not to be won over, with our host’s honest funny anecdotes and obvious enjoyment of what he’s doing. We have fun because he does. He tells us how he’s excited to be back at The Butterfly Club as it’s where he made his debut seven years ago, and the first stage he sang upon – and he’s been having lessons since. Simon was accompanied by Louise Goh and even played himsel:, vocally the notes were there, though I can’t wait to hear the resonance and fullness as his voice continues to develop.

The US is extremely lucky to have an export who is the whole package. With magic, music, stories and funnies; Simon Taylor Does A Whole Bunch of Cool Stuff is a show you could take anyone to and they will love it. Hell, you can even go by yourself because by the end of it you’ll feel like you, Simon and the audience are a bunch of mates, sharing this incredible experience that’s a live entertainment extravaganza. It’s on till Sunday, book today.

Date: 7th of August, 2016

Time:8:30pm

Location: The Butterfly Club, Carson Place, Off Little Collins Street, Melbourne

Price: From $25­

Bookings: TheButterflyClub.com