Choose Bob: 40 Ridiculous Years

“You put the boom-boom in my heart

"You send my soul sky high … “

Singin’ and swingin’ Bob Downe is ‘whamming” his way around the country with a 40 year celebration that is just as fancy and funny as every one of his shows – and I’ve seen a few! Is it really 40 years since a young teenage DJ called Mark Trevorrow created a zany character who would take him to stages all over Australia, to every TV variety show, to the English stage and TV and a Royal Variety performance, and to compere multiple Mardi Gras?

It is – and snippets of all of these appear in “Bob of Ages” a clever screen show that introduces CHOOSE BOB, a celebration of the “40 ridiculous years” this beloved drag triple threat performer has been entertaining Australia.

Downe is taking audiences back those 40 years to 1984 and the music of that decade – rather than that of the ‘60s and ‘70s that took him around the world!  “I’ve had to learn 30 songs for this show,” he tells the audience as he ‘wakes up’ them with a bit of Wham and “Reminiscing” … and some of his inimitable one liners: “40 years! If you’ve been round long enough you become a community icon!”

He hit Sydney last weekend after a sell-out show in Hobart and will be touring through November and December. (Just go to CHOOSE BOB for details of places, dates and tickets!)

Sporting one of his iconic blonde wigs – “look at it and you’d say “It’s Diana”!” – Downe forgoes terylene suits and sequins (for a while at least!) for a white CHOOSE BOB t-shirt, white ‘slacks’ and “heritage listed” loafers to sing ‘80s hits like “Careless Whispers”, “Just Can’t Get Enough” and “Sweet Dreams” – giving them just enough slurry riffs and smarmy smiles to make them recognisably Bob!

Forty years in show business gives him the chance to make fun of his age: “You know you’re getting older when you’re out walking and you notice a lovely shrub … or curse that skateboard … or when ‘woke’ means what you did this morning”! The audience loved it! Even my 19-year-old grandson! Love of Trevorrow and Downe is just one of the things that bridges our 63 year generation gap!

Another is Bob’s crazy ‘nephew’ Phillip McKrevis – also known as Rupert Noffs – who joins the show rocking along in true Downe style, complete with cheesy smile! These two work beautifully together, harmonising, joking and doing their dippy dance routines.

The straight ladies  in the audiences are serenaded as the girls “he could have loved”, and the “young girls” he could have got “out of his mind” - and Gina Riley appears cunningly on screen with him as a Lady in Red commemorating the many shows they did together – including Kath and Kim.

Bob Downe made inclusivity a ‘thing’ before the word was ever articulated – and in this show he is joined by his husband Stefan Elliott, who sings, dances – and advertises the special CHOOSE BOB merch! Elliott – and Noff’s husband Matty Bennett on sound and lights – are an integral part of the show, proving Bob’s claim that “the family that tours together stays together!”. Their humour, their laughter and their love make this show very special – and so much fun.

And just for a last little bit of fun, there’s the “Choose Bob” song sourced on “Chat IUD”:  some rap verses about a variety of Bobs – Hawke, Martin, Katter, Hope, even Fosse … and a chorus about the one and only Bob … Mr Downe!

Happy 40 ridiculously entertaining years Bob Downe. Your fans and followers salute you!

And … for those wanting more of their harmony, keep watching for Mark Trevorrow, Rupert Noffs and the amazing Bev Kennedy when  “Old Friends Sing Sundays at Ginger’s” returns with some special young guests early in the new year.

Carol Wimmer