Ag Pleez Deddy, take me to see Jeremy Taylor
My head is full of Pepsi Cola, Ginger Beer and Canada Dry. On the drive to work recollections of the lift girls at South Africa's department stores carolling out the offers on the sixth floor ring in the back of my head and I swop my usual road rage vocabulary for an expressive Voertsek. This can only mean one thing.
.Enigmatic entertainer Jeremy Taylor is back in town after a break of umpteen years.
Taylor, now a sprightly 72-year-old, still displaying his deftness on the guitar and his cutting social commentary, which got his music banned in South Africa, is as relevant today as it was in the turbulent 1960s, albeit in a somewhat different context.
While events on the continent have overtaken the songs recorded by Taylor in his golden years, they are poignant reminders of the desperate conditions forced on the minority by an apartheid government and Taylor's treatment of them at his opening night at Cape Town's Golden Arrow studio at the Baxter, was as passionate as ever.
They also mark the drastic changes that have taken place in the country as it moved from a comfortable colonial existence with lift girls, Chevrolets, funfairs, neighbourhood entertainment from “moering the okies next door” to, dare I say it, nigger balls and liquorice, to a more modern and hopefully more inclusive society, but neither Taylor nor I will dwell on that.
Let us rather celebrate a shining example of good, fun entertainment - two hour's worth - as Taylor had the audience enthralled, not only with what we remember from the '60s, but from songs that reflect the various lives he has lived. His portrayal of unionists in the UK, neighbours in an ordinary London suburb, the strange habits of drivers insistent on red velvet wheel steering covers of the 1970s.
He dwells fondly on his tours with Spike Milligan and laughs generously as he reminds us of his meetings with Ian Smith, whose fondness for mixed metaphors always amused Taylor, himself a teacher at a top British school at one time.
Two hours is a long time on your own on stage, and at 72 at that, but his musings of life in Broederstroom, at the end of a party line, are all part of a rich pageant of existence that is the content of this amusingly entertaining show, a mix of song and storytelling.
Jeremy Taylor is a must see whatever generation you are.
Performances are currently underway at the Baxter Golden Arrow Studio, and will run until 24 October, at 7.30pm nightly. Ticket prices range from R55 (for Baxter Mondays which include a light meal and show) to R120. Booking is through Computicket on 083 915 8000, online at www.computicket.co.za or at any Shoprite Checkers outlet countrywide. For discounted block, schools or corporate bookings, charities and fundraisers, contact Yandiswa on +27 (0) 21 680 3991, Sharon on +27 (0) 21 680 3971 or Taryn on +27 (0) 21 680 3993 during office hours.
