Piano Bar’s Andy Pobjoy is set to eclipse a half century of consecutive live-streamed performances after smashing his personal record of 37 shows in a row.
Pobjoy hit the previous PB on the keys aboard the Carnival Spirit in 2014, he told the Independent.
“I just kept on playing and playing… every time I tried to take a night off the passengers cracked it,” he remembered.
Pobjoy often developed a loyal following on cruise ships among younger passengers with little else to do at night, he said.
“It’s a bit similar to what we’ve got now – people are on this trip and they can’t get off – so they tune in every night.”
The Piano Bar owner is among a plethora of performers live streaming into lounge rooms from the venue nightly since the COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to live gigs.
“We’re having an absolute blast,” Pobjoy said.
“It’s helping us not to go stir-crazy and it’s a way of taking a bit of control back in this situation.
“As performers we need something to look forward to, if you take that away from us we can go into a bit of a dark place.”
A show last Saturday reached up to 100,000 people on social media, Pobjoy said.
Some fans have even donated, with all funds going towards the venue’s regular drag queens and other colourful performers not covered under the JobKeeper allowance, he said.
“[The pandemic has] affected some people really badly.”
When not on the piano, Pobjoy has been renovating a Norlane ‘fixer-upper’ with partner and fellow performer Josh King.
“I’m meant to be in Tahiti on a cruise at the moment,” he said.
“I don’t normally have this much time on my hands.”
