The Gown Student Newspaper at Queen's University Belfast

REVIEW: Bill Bailey at the Waterfront Hall

Well known for his surrealist comedy on TV shows such as ‘Black Books’ and his musical virtuosity in his stand-up performances, Bill Bailey has attempted to combine the two in his latest show, ‘The Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra’. The Waterfront Hall played host to the celebrated comedian alongside a full orchestra earlier this month, on the Belfast stop of his UK-wide tour. Ambitious and impressive as the show sounds,  the jokes unfortunately fell flat more often than they hit the right note.

BY RUTH MAGENNIS

Bill Bailey is undeniably an excellent musician, and throughout the performance commanded many instruments from guitars to Swiss bells, and he even whipped out the spoons for a jaunty Cockney-inspired number. His self-penned songs that have been such hits in his previous shows made an appearance again, with the racial harmony song called ‘Let’s Hear It For The Zebra’ and a barbed Chris de Burgh tribute being the highlights. However, none of the songs were funny or arresting enough to make you want to add them to your iPod.

Yet when the gags were good, the orchestra really added flair, such as during his dramatic disaster opera entitled ‘Insect Nation’, or his re-imagining of the ‘Doctor Who’ theme tune as a Belgian jazz number. Bailey was able to convince the audience that Handel’s ‘Messiah’ really does contain hidden Cockney influences by stripping away orchestral sections to let the audience hear the underlying rhythm (with a bit of cheeky trumpeting thrown in.)

The problem with the show seems to be that Bailey has bitten off more than he can chew. There are too many balls to keep juggling in the air, and one joke isn’t given the room to expand and develop before the show rockets off again onto another musical gag. It ends up seeming rather haphazard and chaotic, more like a preview of a work in progress than a proper gig. The references are rather old for us hip young things with a rather indulgent musical recreation of a 70s cop show, and a homage to experimental 70s rock ballads. Presumably so as not to give the oldies a heart attack, the comedy itself is rather tame and gentle with only Chris de Burgh getting a light tongue lashing.

Having said that, it’s far more original and lively than half of the stand-up shows that crowd the comedy section of HMV. Only Bill Bailey would have the imagination, or the comedic clout, to dream up this show. Here’s hoping that he doesn’t give up on musical comedy. I, for one, will be waiting for ‘Insect Nation: Part Deux’…

Tags: Bill Bailey, Gown, newspaper, qub, Queen's, queen's university, Ruth Magennis, student, The Gown

This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 6:35 pm and is filed under Arts + Ents. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.