bill bailey
Bill Bailey’s standup has always been peppered with musical interludes and parodies
of different genres. In his latest show, however, music takes centre stage, as Bailey
turns the spotlight onto his aural fixation.
words: REBECCA FENTON
“B
ecause he’s in the pub 3. he worked closely with the “fantastic composer and take a great deal of pleasure in doing so too (he
already,” is the superb, heavily- and arranger” Anne Dudley, whose celebrated aural giggles heartily at the thought).
accented response Bill Bailey talents he calls upon again in this nationwide tour. On preferred instruments, he muses that he likes
remembers being quipped right This initial show received popular acclaim and “the harp – not an orchestral instrument but a
back at him by a Welsh audience member years then moved to London’s Royal Albert Hall, where beautiful sound… a bit intimidating and maca-
ago when he posed the question of why, when the it enjoyed three sell-out dates. The show was also bre”. Bailey also has a fondness for an instrument
Irish, English and Scotsman all go into a pub, the recorded for TV and aired on BBC Two in May 2009. often seen as one of the more comical orchestral
Welshman is nowhere to be seen. “I used to do contraptions: “I love the trombone. It’s very visual,
whole routines about the Welsh,” says the west- great fun.”
country-born comedian. “My mother was Welsh and “I cover things in the The show itself sees Bailey effectively playing a
spoke Welsh. I’ve got great affection for the place. stand-up routine with full orchestral support. As it
My earliest memories of a holiday were in Tenby. We show such as ‘What says on the tin, it is a tour around the different mu-
had a great time there.” sical sections of a real-life, working orchestra, with
Returning to Wales in November 2009 to kick off the are Bassoonists all the bizarre off-the-wall skits and songs of the ilk
10-day UK-wide tour of his new show Bill Bailey’s you may have come to expect from Bailey’s previous
Remarkable Guide To The Orchestra at Cardiff’s secretly obsessed success story stage shows including Tinselworm
Wales Millennium Centre, in a previous life Bailey benefiting both comedy-wise and wow-that’s-a-full-
(let it henceforth be known as ‘Before Buzzcocks’ with?’” orchestra-behind-that-funny-man-off-the-telly-wise
or ‘BB’) toured all round Wales with a children’s from the inspired coupling of ensemble and man.
theatre company. He reflects somewhat haltingly From recreating a TV crime episode purely through
upon “being Merlin in Cardiff and being surrounded Discussing the juxtaposition and synergy between musical manipulation, to looking at the lighter side
by Welsh kids,” and the doubtlessly multitudinous the different mediums further, Bailey talks at length of the instruments and players (see bassoonists,
joys of “being mobbed in Rhyl whilst dressed as an about how “for years, radio and TV were reliant on above – how could he possibly resist taking a quick
owl” in his BB days with a mixture of what sounds orchestras to create the mood,” explaining that new poke at the instrument whose main claim to fame
like fondness and recurrent, rather severe migraine media, in his eyes, is all inextricably interwoven is the soundtrack to Ivor the Engine?), Bailey’s
pains. and interlinked with music, and could not, from his Remarkable Guide should please most adults with
A classically trained musician, Bailey’s first love is point of view, possibly exist without it. a sense of humour and a tendency not to run away
music. He emphasises that music is, fundamentally, So, has the epically hairfaced one who once billed screaming when faced with the word ‘classical’. In
“dramatic, thrilling… everything,” extolling the himself delightfully as ‘Half Troll’ suddenly gotten fact, even the surly plebs among you may be swayed
majesty of a full orchestra’s “fascinating sound – it all serious on us? Er… no, not quite yet: “I cover by this genius combination that brings a world
gets the hairs on the back of the neck going up.” He things in the show such as ‘What are Bassoon- of music often maligned as being inaccessible or
even goes so far as to liken a stirring piece to “a bit ists secretly obsessed with?’” he mutters gleefully, obscure to the public popular fore.
of voodoo”. gathering momentum and a distinctly joyful tone Good work that man – or should we say bravo?
On the new show’s conceptual beginnings, he says: as he comes to talk about his favourite instruments Encore? Best bet’s to go see for yourself.
“The idea came about because the BBC Concert and his own particular areas of interest within the
Orchestra were looking for interesting collaborators orchestra. He goes on to explain that “the sound of
and my name cropped up.” Bailey was then “handed a bassoon is often lost within an orchestra,” and Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide To The Orches-
the keys” to the orchestra in March 2007 for a that he believes that bassoonists, therefore, are tra, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay. Fri 6-
Comic Relief special which was aired on BBC Radio “secret rebels” who play whatever the hell they like Sat  Nov. Info: 080 0402000 / www.wmc.org.uk
BUZZ 
NOVEMBER 2009.indd 7 27/10/09 15:58:56
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