Daniel Taylor talks ahead of Tommy Cooper role at Shrewsbury theatre

Daniel Taylor has gone from playing the rock'n'roll icon John Lennon to starring as out-sized, red-tarboosh-wearing, cigar-chomping British prop comedian and magician Tommy Cooper.

The Liverpudlian actor is presently on the road in The Tommy Cooper Show and will feature at Shrewsbury's Walker Theatre tomorrow.

West End star Taylor, also well known for his work in Blood Brothers, is enjoying the show.

"We took the Lennon show around the UK and then went to the States and onto Canada. We literally had people in tears with that show. So I've gone from Give Peace A Chance to wearing a pair of size 14 shoes and making people laugh with magic tricks.

"The thing with Tommy Cooper is that you have to be comfortable on stage if you're not saying anything. Because that's what he did. He made people laugh just by standing on stage. It was that look of bewilderment, surprise and innocence...and the laugh, of course."

Taylor avoids doing a straight impersonation and instead tries to get under the skin of the people he portrays. He tries to capture the essence of their character, tries to understood what made them tick.

"What I did with Tommy, as with Lennon, was avoid impersonation. With the magic of the costume – I wear a big padded suit and my shoes are raised – everything has changed. What I try to aim to do is go further than impersonation and bring back the things that shaped him and made him who he was.

"The show is pretty much a life story. Tommy talks about talking to the audience, his first magic set from his Aunt Lucy. Then, as the dark clouds were gathering over Europe in 1939 before the war, he talks about joining an army concert party.

"Tommy was based in Egypt and that was where he met his wife, who was a showgirl. She was a character actress who could play the glamourpuss. Very quickly, they got married and were together. He talks about his rise."

It avoids negative aspects of his life and cuts to the laughs. "We don't look at things that he might have been criticised for. Why would we?

"He's not here to defend himself, so we just haven't gone there. It's Tommy as people remembered him, a larger-than-life guy who had all the best laughs."

The show has already proved popular and Taylor has received gushing reviews.

The British Theatre Guide wrote: 'Daniel Taylor is breathtaking as Tommy Cooper', while Fringe Review said: 'Taylor has nailed Cooper. He has brought him back to life'.

Taylor has been able to draw on his own experience to recreate some of Cooper's tricks.

"When I moved to London to train as an actor I got a job working between Hamleys and Harrods as an in-store magician. It's a bit strange coming back to it because I did it early in my career."

The show has been given the blessing of the Tommy Cooper estate with his daughter, Vicky, delighted, Daniel adds. "She gave us her blessing and the Appreciation Society also gave us the green light."

Just like that.

"Yeah, just like that."

By Andy Richardson