Born in Melbourne, Mark started his working life at 17 as a copyboy with The Sun News-Pictorial, before co-founding cabaret comedy group The Globos, who released two Australian Top 20 hit singles, Tintarella di Luna (1982) and The Beat Goes On (1983). In 1984 he formed a comedy duo with Cathy Armstrong, in which Bob Downe was born.
In January 1987 Mark Treverrow went solo with the character at Sydney’s Harold Park Hotel. In 1988 he took Bob to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where he was a huge and instant success. Bob Downe played throughout the 1990s to ever larger British audiences, with Mark in perpetual commute between London and Sydney, touring nationally in both countries. With a multitude of UK TV credits under his beige belt, Bob made his twelfth Edinburgh Fringe appearance in 2002.
Back in Australia, the first Bob Downe album, Greatest Hits, was released in Australia in 1996, with 1997’s Jazzy! nominated for a Best Comedy Album ARIA music award. 1998 saw the Australian publication of his first book, ‘All Bob Downe!’ on Penguin publishing and he hosted the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade broadcast for Network Ten. In 1999 and 2000, Bob again hosted the Mardi Gras Parade, a consistent ratings winner for Network Ten.
Bob’s comedy/chat series, The Bob Downe Show (Foxtel/TV1), went to air in December 2000. His last three national theatre tours, Million Sellers (1999), Whiter! Brighter! (2000) and Cold August Night (2002) have been sellouts everywhere, including the Sydney Opera House and the State Theatre.
