Bill Bailey is somewhat of a celebrity. His stand up, panel show and sitcom appearances have earned him a loyal following large enough to justify playing massive venues. Bailey is a unique comedian with a playful physicality and a wonderfully expressive face; these qualities helped to cement his reputation and unfortunately, these qualities were lost in an enormous arena. His straight stand up sometimes felt generic; observations about David Cameron seemed to be tossed in without any real insight (although there were some brilliantly surreal descriptions). Far more effective was his song about Nick Clegg, and his music which remains Bailey’s ace in the hole.
Although he can now seemingly pump out Wurzels and Kraftwerk-style pop parodies in his sleep, the majority of the songs in the show were simply exhilarating in their wit, verve and gobsmacking amount of talent displayed. It was impossible not to laugh at his Francophile rendition of Gary Numan’s ‘Cars’, complete with a surprise accompaniment which I won’t spoil. A knees-up number about Chas and Dave doing a deal with the Devil could only have come from Bailey; similarly the prog jazz extended computer alert (you had to be there). These moments show what a creative force he is. The absolute highlight of the show was a comparison of different renaissance paintings of St Thomas examining the wounds of the resurrected Christ. This may sound like the driest thing imaginable but the routine hit a real sweet spot between intellectual and silly, expertly augmented with some Python-style animation. The shadow cast by Jesus’ nipple has never been so funny.
Bailey said the theme of the show was doubt. By this evidence, he should cast off any doubt that leads him to play it safe and embrace the esoteric lunacy which made his name.
Brighton Centre, 9 November 2011
Rating: 
Simon Plotkin
