POPULAR duo the Topp Twins are returning to Newcastle. The Topp Twins have been known to leave audiences in tears of laughter as the pair, armed with guitar, mouth-harp and spoons, deliver original songs and an array of distinctive comic characters.
As well as slapstick comedy, the Topp Twins are big on audience participation.
But it is all done in good humour.
Lynda and Jools Topp were raised on a small dairy farm on the North Island of New Zealand where they grew up singing to the cows.
Their rural upbringing explains their essentially country roots and mastery of yodelling.
It all started with a neighbour's collection of Shirley Thoms, Judy Holmes and Patsy Montana on old 78s.
Jools remembers her sister's passion of learning to yodel.
``The first time Lynda heard a yodel she went into this sort of swoon and became obsessed about learning it,'' Topp said.
``She used to ride to the nearby farm about 30 minutes up the road on horseback, listen to their old wind-up gramophone, jump back on her horse, race home, get out the guitar and desperately try and remember what she had just heard.
``It took her three years to learn to yodel.'' After 16 years of rural isolation the Twins joined the Territorial Army and quickly became the Vera Lynns of their battalion.
But their army careers were destined to be short- lived.
After jumping a train in Christchurch they began busking and playing in small cafes.
In their early 20s, with a guitar each and a highly original political repertoire, the Topp Twins moved to Auckland and soon developed a cult following as buskers.
More than a decade later the Topp Twins now have their own television series Do Not Adjust Your Twinset and regularly tour Australia, Canada, the US and the UK.
The Topp Twins perform at West Leagues Club on Friday, March 2.
Bookings for the show can be made by calling 4935 1200.
|
