An audio play which both entertains and educates the listener on the life, poetry and song writing of Andrew Barton (Banjo) Paterson.

Banjo Paterson is famous for his poems including The Man from Snowy River, Clancy of the Overflow, and A Bush Christening, and the song Waltzing Matilda.

Devised, written, and performed by Crocker, this wry and sentimental audio play explores various “chapters” in the life of Andrew Barton (Banjo) Paterson. It is told in flashback as the elderly Paterson, not long before his death in 1941, while he addresses the students at Sydney Grammar his old school, as the guest speaker.

With Crocker voicing the titular role, Jack Thompson narrating, and Michael Caton voicing Henry Lawson (supported by Nick Jasprizza, Gerard McGuire & Martine Williams as miscellaneous voices), this is an audio experience not to be missed!

Listen through “Autralian Theatre Live”

https://australiantheatre.live/banjo/

Everyone has an interpretation of what the all round entertainer should be. The term once invoked the image of a singer who could dance a little, tell jokes and hold an audience s attention with anecdotes of his life and career. In my world, in order to wear this label successfully, the description of the “all round entertainer” expands with the ability to perform not only as an actor in films, television, and on stage, but also to direct, write books and plays, and even pen his own autobiography.

The definition of the all round entertainer is a generational conundrum. When I became a showbiz professional in 1956, I found myself part of the end of the age of vaudeville, being lucky enough to learn from those who had been there and done that, and now I am wearing the same shoes as those who paved the way for me.

Sadly, most of those contemporaries who shared the same journey have either shuffled off the mortal coil, or are in retirement. Now, with the departure of Ernie Sigley, Jimmy Hannan, Graham Kennedy, Stuart Wagstaff, Don Lane, and Bert Newton I find myself left alone now to carry the torch, hence the title of this book. Through this book, with its words and many photographs, I pass on the story of a wonderful and rewarding sixty five years of parading my wares around the globe with plenty of humour along the way.

Barry Crocker's career as a performer began in the kitchen of his childhood home where, as a ten-year-old, he would amuse his mother with Bing Crosby impersonations. Years later, after stints as a tile maker, wool stacker, sign writer and house painter, Barry discovered amateur theatre. It was not long before he was being paid to do what he loved - entertain.

From his working class beginnings in Geelong through to the crazy days filming 'The Adventures Of Barry McKenzie' and its sequel, 'Bazza' is a warm and irreverent memoir that spans four decades of a remarkable life, and a fascinating period in Australian entertainment history.

Barry has toured the Victorian countryside with a travelling theatre company; worked the "cappuccino-soaked fiver circuit" in Melbourne in the 50s; entertained American troops in Asia and Europe; and been down and out in London and New York in the 60s.

He has sung in seedy nightclubs and lavish theatres; performed on television in its earliest days, and then went on to star in several of his own highly successful variety TV programmes. And, of course, in his role as the iconic, pommy-hating Barry McKenzie, he popularised such Bazza-isms as "making love to the lav" and "pointing Percy at the porcelain".

'Bazza' is filled with anecdotes and set pieces, bit players and stars - over the years Barry has worked with Frank Sinatra and Jerry Lewis, Barry Humphries, Spike Milligan, Bert Newton, Helen Reddy and the Packer family, among many others. But it has not been a life without hardship. The demands of Barry's career were often at odds with the needs of his family; he has experienced first-hand the pitfalls of ambition and fame.

Told with sincerity and great humour, 'Bazza' is compelling memoir that makes it clear why Barry Crocker is still one of Australia's best-loved entertainers.