This performance found Austen Tayshus in his usual belligerent mood.
He started by giving his fanciful spiel that this is his last tour and that he is going to hang up the microphone and return to his day job as a dentist. He soon went on to tell us that he is being paid $50,000 by producer David Spicer. We soon work out not to believe a word he says.
During the show Austen Tayshus picked out various members of the audience to spar with. These interactions had mixed results. One audience member whom he regularly picked out claimed to have a sore throat and ,as much as Austen Tayshus tried, he could not get any further response from him.
Through the show Austen Tayshus showed his great skill with putting on different voices.
His main target on the night was South Africans. There were a few of them in the front row who took his diatribe in a good natured way.
Also in the front row were two guys in their twenties sitting together.. Austen Tayshus picked them out and decided that they were a gay couple. They responded to him by telling him that they were brothers! This didn’t stop him from a bit of further badgering them through the show.
Austen Tayshus picked out a member of the audience, Daniel, who lives in the same block of units as he does, He got him a free ticket after Martin told him that his parents hated the show (the first of his three performances). Clearly he was hoping that Martin would end up with a different opinion of his show..
Austen Tayshus likes to be brash and politically incorrect. It’s his shtick .As he said frequently this is a comedy show, everyone is here to have a bit of fun, and not to take it seriously.
For most of the show I went along with his banter and enjoyed myself. The only gripe I had was his insensitive spiel on Aborigines. I thought it was tasteless. Why does he continue to have this as part of his act when it is so clearly out of step with the more enlightened times we live in?! Our indigenous people and their culture need to be respected.
Austen Tayshus has one more performance at the Bondi Pavilion on Thursday 24th October, 2019.
http://www.bonditheatrecompany.com.au