Bill Bailey - Dandelion Mind

Synopsis

British Comedy Award winner Bill has enjoyed success on the live stage for many years. In 2001 he took his show Bewilderness to New York for an eight week run at the Westbeth Theatre. The New York Times wrote of him, "Bill is an unalloyed pleasure, a treat for the funny bone, the brain and the ear" and The Telegraph pronounced him "a hobbit with a wicked sense of humour". In 2004 he performed his show Part Troll at over fifty venues around the UK, culminating in an extended run at London’s Wyndhams Theatre. In 2007 he embarked on a sold-out UK arena tour with his audio-visual, comedic extravaganza, Tinselworm. He took the show down under during the summer of 2008, touring Australia and New Zealand, before returning to London in December 2008 for a ten week run of the show at The Gielgud Theatre. The summer of 2009 saw Bill tour the UK once again with his live show, Bill Bailey Live. Last autumn, following his performances at London’s Royal Albert Hall and the resulting critically acclaimed BBC2 television broadcast, Bill enjoyed a very successful UK tour of his musical comedy extravaganza, Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra. Performing alongside some of the UK’s finest orchestras, the show provided fans with the opportunity to see Bill’s surreal comic and musical imagination at its best and was described by The Telegraph as "a glorious achievement," The Guardian as "sublime hilarity" and Stephen Fry as "wonderfully enjoyable... like driving a Rolls-Royce off-road."

Our Review:

Andrew Girvan - 10 November 2010

Bill Bailey has had a tough week, or he tells his audience as his opening gambit - the fame tables have turned, people now keep mistaking him for X Factor's Wagner. There is something to be said for a stand up comedians whose first set piece of the night is to lead the entire audience in a rendition of "California Dreaming", sung at a number of tempos for comic effect of course, but Bailey asks it of his crowd and they deliver without hesitation.

For the uninitiated an evening with Bill Bailey could be a big ask. Bailey is a comic who moves from absurdist observational stories and one-liners to comedy songs without missing a beat. It's not long before the guitar is out, closely followed by the Persian oud - an evening in his presence can certainly broaden the mind on what type of instruments can deliver rock anthems.

Dandelion Mind follows a pattern many of Bailey's fans will expect, with material personifying the mating rituals of frogs, expounding on the b...

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Latest User Review

Vicki - 10 November 2010:

I loved the show (9 Nov) and my cheekbones ached afterwards from laughing. The interaction with the (good natured) hecklers made it so much better than watching on TV. Nice theatre too....

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