Ever got in the back of a black cab and had to put up with the driver’s rubbish jokes? If you’re lucky enough to get into stand-up comic Trevor Bickles’ cab, you’re in for a treat…
Trevor, 41, has been a taxi driver for over seven years in Central London. But unlike most cab drivers with a dodgy sense of humour, he’s also a stand-up comedian, telling jokes on the side. Trevor started doing comedy as a hobby six years ago just after he became a taxi driver and had some spare time on his hands. “I was always too busy working so when I became a cab driver, I had all this free time on my hands. I thought I needed a hobby and I have always liked stand-up comedy,” says Trevor.
Image credit: Trevor Bickles
When the Covid pandemic drew the curtains on live performances, Trevor took his talents to online platforms such as TikTok to continue entertaining. “When the comedy stopped on the stage, it was like right, I need to do something. There was a lot happening on Instagram with a lot of comedians, but I thought no one is really touching TikTok at the minute”. Since Trevor started sharing comedy sketches on his TikTok account his following has continued to grow.
Finding the time to balance a full time career and a hobby can be difficult for anyone. However, Trevor finds the time because of the flexibility in the job. “That’s the beautiful thing about comedy as well,” he says. “If I have gigs in London, I would literally do some taxi work, stop, have a bit of dinner, go to the gig and perform. Then I would go back to work again.”
He also performs some of his new jokes to his passengers just to see the reaction. On the flip side, if one of his conversations with his passenger is funny, he’ll use the material in his routine.
Trevor works up to three nights a week working until the early hours and while he has to deal with drunks and all sorts, he’s not too worried about his safety.
“I think the design of the taxi does help for our safety as well as the customers,” says Trevor. “Every black cab has a plastic partition between the driver and the passenger, which is not only a great reassurance for the passengers but also us drivers.”
But there’s no sugar-coating the number of drunks and unsavoury characters he gets in the back of his cab. “You just gotta keep your wits about you, and I think you learn over time,” says Trevor.
I’ll do some taxi work, do a gig and go back to work again
Although Trevor had a hairy moment when he picked up a drunk passenger in central London who wanted to go to London Fields but claimed he had no money half way through the journey.
When Trevor arrived at the destination, the passenger wanted to get out of the cab, but Trevor wasn’t prepared to lose his fare. Luckily the customer’s wife came to help him. “I said to his wife, you’re going to have to help him out of the cab, which saved my life a bit,” says Trevor, “and she also paid the fare.”
“Suddenly, he just lost his temper. He started to punch the plastic partition in the car quite aggressively, to the shock of us both. She managed to pull him out of the cab. I put my foot down and shot off,” says Trevor.
While being a cab driver in London can be edgy, it comes with funny and interesting stories as well.
“I picked up this guy around Liverpool Street. He wanted an apartment out in Canary Wharf, and he was trying to get the address so he said, head out that way. We are driving out there and all the way out there he was on the phone to this girl. He was apologising for something. He just kept going. I’m so sorry. I love you baby. I love you. I love you.
So we’re getting closer and closer to Canary Wharf. Suddenly he goes “stop! She doesn’t want to see me. Turn me around. Take me back to Shoreditch.” So I said, are you sure? And he was like “yes, yes.” So we are driving back to Shoreditch, and the phone rings and he’s like, “Baby, thank you. Thank you”.
He is then shouting this address at me. Anyway, we’re going back down to Canary Wharf and he’s like “Oh, Baby, I love you. Oh baby you’re amazing. I can’t wait to see you.” The phone went a bit quiet and he sat on the flip down seat. He’s put his phone in the money tray. He said to me, “my friend. I’m so glad she wants to see me. I’m so glad.” So I said to him, I’m really pleased for you. Obviously, you really like this girl. So good luck to you.
He then went to me “do you want the truth?”. I said go on. He then said “I just want to sleep with her. I’m going back to Hungary in two days. I just want to sleep with her and then I am going home.” So I’m just laughing.
But then this is where the twist happens. He picks up his phone and he puts it to his ear and then says. “I did not say that. That was not me.” He’d left the phone on to her. She’d heard everything that he wanted to do. He is now begging this girl saying “no, that was not me, that was the taxi driver!”
Now I’m thinking oh my god, how am I going to get this guy out the cab? So I’ve got him to the destination. She’s hung up. Then I had to become almost like a life coach to the guy. I wish I could give you an elaborate ending to it but I literally said to him like you got to go in there. You’ve got to fight for that girl. He’s like “you think so” and I went yeah you got to do it. So you pay up and go go go. Once he was out of the cab I thought I’m getting out of here and I just drove off”.
Trevor also has a favourite tipsy passenger story. He picked up a woman and she was a little bit tipsy, and as cabbies do, they make small talk. Trevor was driving her home and asked how she was and the passenger stayed completely silent. “A couple of minutes later she went “do you actually want to know how my day has been?” I went, yeah, go on then. She then said, “I’ve just been made redundant from my job.” I went oh, I’m sorry to hear that. She then said “what makes it even worse, is that it was by the guy I’ve been having an affair with. He has had to make me redundant.”
Image credit: Trevor Bickles
The story then takes a dramatic turn, and is something which you would see in a British soap opera. She then said to Trevor, “this morning my husband found out I was having an affair”. So on the same day, her husband found out she was having an affair with this guy, and she has gone to work and been made redundant by the same guy” describes Trevor.
You can follow Trevor on Tik Tok and watch some of his comedy and hear some more tales he has about being a taxi driver. Also keep an eye out on his Instagram to see when he is next doing a stand-up gig!