Who among us hasn’t attempted a few snooker impressions for a laugh while with some mates down at the local club?
Whether it’s the players on the baize or the voices in the commentary box, snooker has always been rich with opportunities to mimic.
John Virgo, who himself has been attempted on numerous occasions in my family house along with the rest of the legendary BBC commentary team, is famed for his ability to provide hilarious snooker impressions.
Indeed, there have been occasions during the World Snooker Championship when, after a match has concluded too early, the lovable JV has entered the Crucible to give the paying audience value for their money with a few portrayals of the likes of Alex Higgins and his mate Dennis Taylor.
But step aside the former UK champion as there is a new comedian in town by the name of Liverpudlian Allan Taylor – A.K.A. ” The Albino Assassin”.
Taylor, a professional since 2013, has never broken into the top 64 in the world rankings and is still searching for a maiden appearance in the latter stages of a ranking event.
However, one area where the 34 year-old does excel in is with his snooker impressions, indeed so much so that he put fellow professionals Neil Robertson and Joe Perry to the test recently to see how many of the impersonations they could guess correctly.
The short video, made as part of the excellent Baize Watch series that is being produced monthly by World Snooker this season on YouTube and which you can watch below, was first released in the summer but resurfaced on Wednesday in celebration of Taylor’s birthday.
Not all of them are perfect but most are pretty close and there are a few absolute gems, including Shaun Murphy’s mannerisms and the eccentricity of popular Chinese player Liang Wenbo.
Unfortunately for Taylor, his snooker impressions of the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump couldn’t be replicated in the standard of play that they can produce, as he was beaten 6-4 by Mike Dunn in the first round of the UK Championship.
G’night JV!
