Liverpool actor Danny Taylor obsessed with glamorous Glastonbury

After dream Glastonbury gig, Liverpool actor Danny Taylor says he’d go back ‘just like that’!

Liverpool actor Daniel Taylor said playing Glastonbury was the dream job he’d always imagined after he rocked the Somerset festival in his fez and wellies.

Danny Taylor wowed crowds at Worthy Farm with his praised show, The Very Best of Tommy Cooper – Just Like That!, after it was billed one of the top 10 attractions.

Arriving home yesterday – a little later than planned after getting stuck in the queue of traffic waiting to leave – he said: “I absolutely loved it. It’s almost impossible to put into words.

“It was always a dream for me to play at Glastonbury and it took me a while to adjust when I got there – it’s just so vast. I performed in the Astrolabe Theatre and you think about all the big music acts, but Glastonbury is a performing arts festival so there’s all kinds of things happening.”

In the show which he wrote and produced, Danny Taylor steps into Tommy’s gigantic shoes and does an amazing job of bringing this comic genius back to life, recapturing his trademark mayhem and misfiring magic for anyone who missed the original or were left wanting more.

With the blessing of the Tommy’s daughter Vicky, the show recreates the legendary comic’s great one-liners, dazzling wordplay and celebrated tricks, including Glass/Bottle, Dappy Duck, Spot the Dog and Jar/Spoon, as well as giving a few fascinating insights into the entertainer’s life on and off stage.

Danny added: “It was an hour long show which I adjusted for Glasto, making the visual gags bigger and louder.  I did a show every night and it was lovely to see the tent full of people of all ages, young families with their kids and older people who remember Tommy.

“One night, a group of young boys, aged around 11, came up to me at the end of the show and said how much I’d made them laugh, which was amazing to know Tommy’s timeless humour can still entertain people in 2023 and is reaching young audiences.”

Danny, who recently took part in BBC1’s Unbreakable with his partner, Strictly judge Shirley Ballas, also walked through the crowds, entertaining people dressed as Tommy: “I was over the moon to take the show to Glastonbury.”

He said: “When I wasn’t on stage, I wandered around soaking up the atmosphere. Everywhere I went I could hear the Liverpool accent and bumped into loads of fellow Scousers. It was great to see local act Raves R Us by Naughty Corner Productions about the ‘90s rave scene, which gets the whole audience involved, outside the Circus stage. The place was bouncing.

“I managed to catch some of the headline acts, like Yusuf/Cat Stevens, and Elton John who sounded just like he did 30 years ago. It was insane.”

Would he ever go back? 

“I loved the whole atmosphere, the flower power vibe, which was like nothing else I’ve ever experienced, and you have to go at least once in your life to experience it. It’s like a huge family, people are so helpful and supportive (I lost my phone during one of the gigs and I went to the lost and found tent and someone had handed it in – that’s what it’s like at Glastonbury).

“Without a shadow of a doubt I’d go back – although I need a week to get over it. I was at a rave at 3am on some fella’s shoulders with my glowsticks…”

If you weren’t at Glastonbury to see Danny’s show, The Very Best of Tommy Cooper – Just Like That!, you can catch it at The Floral Pavilion Theatre, New Brighton, on Thursday, July 13, at 7.30pm. Tickets are from £22.