Bill Bailey’s Tinselworm Turns for Gielgud, 10 Nov

Eddie Izzard won’t be the only comedian on Shaftesbury Avenue next month (See News, 2 Oct 2004). Fellow stand-up Bill Bailey (pictured) will bring his latest show, Bill Bailey – Tinselworm, to the Gielgud Theatre, where it opens on 10 November 2008 and is initially booking until 20 December.

According to the promotional material, the broad-ranging material covers everything from tattoos to “marketing, doorbells, Emo, creationism, post-war banking secrecy, travellers’ tales and the alternate reality that is Bill’s world”, presented with Bailey’s trademark elements of “lyrical dexterity, tangential silliness” and “musical brilliance”. The show also features animation by filmmaker Joe Magee.

Tinselworm transfers to the West End following a UK arena tour in 2007 and a tour of Australia and New Zealand this year.

Bailey’s last stand-up show in the West End was Part Troll four years ago
(See News, 7 Oct 2004). Last year, he made his West End acting debut in Pinter’s People, a collection of Harold Pinter sketches, at the Theatre Royal Haymarket (See News, 9 Jan 2007). The British Comedy Award winner is also familiar to TV fans for Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Black Books.

Before his West End season, Bailey – who is also a classically trained musician – can be seen this month at the Royal Albert Hall from 15 to 17 October 2008, with Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra. With the collaboration of composer and arranger Anne Dudley, he’ll “let loose” on the BBC Concert Orchestra, who he led last year in the Cosmic Shindig for Comic Relief.

Currently at the Gielgud, Rupert Goold’s acclaimed new version of Pirandello’s seminal 1921 play Six Characters in Search of an Author, starring Ian McDiarmid, is scheduled to finish its limited season on 8 November (See 1st Night Photos, 16 Sep 2008).

A few doors down from the Gielgud, Eddie Izzard’s new show, Stripped, which was announced last Thursday, has already sold out his 23-date run at the Lyric Theatre from 17 November to 12 December 2008.

– by Terri Paddock