diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 04b6215..4a735b3 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -1,19 +1,21 @@
-language: python
-python:
-  - "2.6"
-  - "2.7"
-  # Disable testing 3.2 since autobahn uses unicode literal syntax that wasn't
-  # re-added into 3.3.  See PEP 414
-#  - "3.2"
-  - "3.3"
-  - "3.4"
-install:
-  - pip install .
-  # Our test server uses autobahn
-  - pip install autobahn
-  # For 2.x, our server needs twisted
-  - pip install twisted
-  # For 3.x where x < 4, our server needs trollius
-  - pip install trollius
-script: python tests/test_pusherclient.py
-
+language: python
+python:
+  # Disable testing 2.6 since twisted has Python 2.7 or higher as a dependency.
+  # https://twistedmatrix.com/pipermail/twisted-python/2015-March/029270.html
+#  - "2.6"
+  - "2.7"
+  # Disable testing 3.2 since autobahn uses unicode literal syntax that wasn't
+  # re-added into 3.3.  See PEP 414
+#  - "3.2"
+  - "3.3"
+  - "3.4"
+install:
+  - pip install .
+  # Our test server uses autobahn
+  - pip install autobahn
+  # For 2.x, our server needs twisted
+  - pip install twisted
+  # For 3.x where x < 4, our server needs trollius
+  - pip install trollius
+script: python tests/test_pusherclient.py
+
diff --git a/pusherclient/channel.py b/pusherclient/channel.py
index a09fe22..b431afe 100755
--- a/pusherclient/channel.py
+++ b/pusherclient/channel.py
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+try:
+    import simplejson as json
+except ImportError:
+    import json
+
 class Channel(object):
     def __init__(self, channel_name, connection):
         self.name = channel_name
@@ -6,21 +11,30 @@ def __init__(self, channel_name, connection):
 
         self.event_callbacks = {}
 
-    def bind(self, event_name, callback):
+    def bind(self, event_name, callback, kwargs={}, decode_json=False):
         """Bind an event to a callback
 
         :param event_name: The name of the event to bind to.
         :type event_name: str
 
         :param callback: The callback to notify of this event.
+
+        :param kwargs: The keyword arguments to pass to the callback.
+        :type kwargs: dict
+
+        :param decode_json: Boolean that determines whether json messages will
+                            be sent to the callback in decoded form
+        :type decode_json: boolean
         """
         if event_name not in self.event_callbacks.keys():
             self.event_callbacks[event_name] = []
 
-        self.event_callbacks[event_name].append(callback)
+        self.event_callbacks[event_name].append({"func": callback,
+                                                 "kwargs": kwargs,
+                                                 "decode_json": decode_json})
 
     def trigger(self, event_name, data):
-        """Trigger an event on this channel.  Only available for private or 
+        """Trigger an event on this channel.  Only available for private or
         presence channels
 
         :param event_name: The name of the event.  Must begin with 'client-''
@@ -36,4 +50,7 @@ def trigger(self, event_name, data):
     def _handle_event(self, event_name, data):
         if event_name in self.event_callbacks.keys():
             for callback in self.event_callbacks[event_name]:
-                callback(data)
+                if callback["decode_json"]:
+                    callback["func"](json.loads(data), **callback["kwargs"])
+                else:
+                    callback["func"](data, **callback["kwargs"])
diff --git a/pusherclient/connection.py b/pusherclient/connection.py
index 75fe53f..ceb5bdb 100755
--- a/pusherclient/connection.py
+++ b/pusherclient/connection.py
@@ -59,19 +59,26 @@ def __init__(self, event_handler, url, log_level=logging.INFO, daemon=True, reco
         Thread.__init__(self)
         self.daemon = daemon
 
-    def bind(self, event_name, callback):
+    #TODO add an option to decode json of the message, to make implementations
+    #more DRY
+    def bind(self, event_name, callback, kwargs={}, decode_json=False):
         """Bind an event to a callback
 
         :param event_name: The name of the event to bind to.
         :type event_name: str
 
         :param callback: The callback to notify of this event.
+
+        :param kwargs: The keyword arguments to pass to the callback.
+        :type kwargs: dict
         """
 
         if event_name not in self.event_callbacks.keys():
             self.event_callbacks[event_name] = []
 
-        self.event_callbacks[event_name].append(callback)
+        self.event_callbacks[event_name].append({"func": callback,
+                                                 "kwargs": kwargs,
+                                                 "decode_json": decode_json})
 
     def disconnect(self):
         self.needs_reconnect = False
@@ -145,7 +152,12 @@ def _on_message(self, ws, message):
                 if params['event'] in self.event_callbacks.keys():
                     for callback in self.event_callbacks[params['event']]:
                         try:
-                            callback(params['data'])
+                            if callback["decode_json"]:
+                                callback["func"](json.loads(params['data']),
+                                                 **callback["kwargs"])
+                            else:
+                                callback["func"](params['data'],
+                                                 **callback["kwargs"])
                         except Exception:
                             self.logger.exception("Callback raised unhandled")
                 else: