At least, that's how Mark Trevorrow would have written his own introduction, had his journalism career not been supplanted by his cheesy, blond-haired variety host alter-ego.

The 55-year-old is celebrating 30 years of performing as his alter-ego Bob Downe, with the Prince of Polyester's new funk-rock inspired cabaret Bob, Sweat and Tears at the Brisbane Powerhouse until Saturday.

"I'm amazed, I never imagined it would last this long," he said.

"It's the audience reaction that's driven it right from the very beginning...as long as people are still coming, I'll keep doing it."

But life could have gone another way for Trevorrow, who was a newspaper cadet in the late 70 and early 80s in Melbourne.

"It was the best job - I wrote six pop columns a week, and went to all the press conferences for the visiting stars," he said.

"So I'd write lines like 'Bette Midler breezed into town' to go beneath a big picture."

By 1982 Trevorrow had left newspapers behind after the retro cabaret duo he formed with then-flatmate Wendy de Waal, The Globos, achieved two hit singles.

The character of Bob Downe, inspired by the big-toothed, perfectly coiffed TV hosts Trevorrow watched as a boy, debuted in a sketch show performed at the Glebe Food Fair in Sydney in September 1984.

"The reason why the wig exists is because when I started doing the character it was the mid-80s and I was wearing my hair super-long," he said.

"I wanted to look like a shop-dummy TV host, so I needed a wig to cover up my hair."

Trevorrow started emceeing comedy nights as Bob at Sydney's Harold Park Hotel, before travelling to the Adelaide Fringe Festival, and developing a one-man show for the very first Melbourne Comedy Festival in 1987, where he was nominated for Best Newcomer.

"I was already friends with the Doug Anthony All Stars, so at their urging I went the next year to the Edinburgh Fringe," Trevorrow said.

"I ended up working every night of the festival, I got an instant following...and I've just finished my 17^th Edinburgh festival."

To mark 30 years, Trevorrow said Bob, Sweat and Tears was designed to be extra special for loyal fans.

"There are 37 songs in the show, all from the late 60s to the mid-70s, and all but two of them are ones I haven't done before," he said.

"It's sort of a gift for people who have followed me for years – including a Roy Orbison medley that is my favourite moment in the show because it's quite mad."

Trevorrow said the show also featured a new character, as well as the dramatic revelation of a personal secret Bob's been hiding all these years.

"It's a surprise...you'll just have to come along to the show and find out."

Bob, Sweat and Tears plays at the Brisbane Powerhouse, New Farm until Saturday October 11. Tickets $39/$35 available online.