Bill Bailey (I)

Edinburgh Fringe interview: Emma Taylor - Producer

One of the best-reviewed shows on the Fringe. The longest-running live comedy show in the world is flawlessly delivered by four outstanding performers at lightning speed, expertly accompanied by an on stage musical director, a post previously held by Bill Bailey. NewsRevue's exceptional writing, superlative performances and ever-original takes on current affairs have made it a Guinness World Record-breaker, Fringe First winner and Perrier finalist.

In a cracking special, comedian Michael McIntyre is presenting a whole host of variety in Michael McIntyre's Easter Night At The Coliseum.

Filmed at the majestic Coliseum in the heart of London's Theatreland, Michael will do his own brand of stand up, whilst also welcoming a stellar line-up of other comedians on stage too. He'll also be joined by singing superstars and jaw-dropping speciality acts.

Ella Henderson and Sia are two of the artists exercising their vocal cords, and Eddie Izzard and Bill Bailey will entertain us with some comedy. Catherine Tate's infamous Nan will also be stopping by to have her say.

Radio Times review

Variety is dead, apart from the several annual TV spectaculars that show it isn't. This one is fronted by cool people's least favourite stand-up, the superb Michael McIntyre, and takes place in a proper West End theatre.

Other comics on the bill include Eddie Izzard, Bill Bailey and, intriguingly given that she's no longer known for solo stage work, Catherine Tate. There's music from US star Sia and our very own Ella Henderson, and some magic, too: Mat Franco, who is getting people talking in the States, makes his UK debut.

The double Bafta-winning sitcom from the early Noughties is available in its entirety to watch on Channel 4's on-demand site. Dylan Moran is at his sardonic best as an anti-social bookshop owner, while Bill Bailey and Tamsin Greig star as his less misanthropic, equally eccentric friends.

Review: Funny Valentines - Bill Bailey: Love Song

Bill Bailey is known as a nature-loving, eco-friendly comedian so maybe that's why he has recycled a song he has been doing for over a decade for the BBC iPlayer's Funny Valentines series. That's not a negative criticism. Far from it.

Bill Bailey & Sean Lock top Altitude 2015 line-up

Bill Bailey and Sean Lock have just been announced as the headliners at this year's Altitude Festival. The annual festival, which combines stand-up with skiing and snowboarding, takes place in Mayrhofen, Austria, from March 23 - 27.

The human labrador puppy that is Alan Davies hosts spontaneous roundtable discussions in this Dave-commissioned chat show. Circumventing the kind of smug backslapping to which the format is often prone, it's a blend of arch spontaneity and languid patter that works thanks largely to the excellent curation of guests, mostly drawn from the broadsheet/Channel 4 school of cerebral comedy - Richard Herring, Josie Long and Bill Bailey amongst them.

Radio Times review

There's nothing quite like the literate, deliciously surreal, controlled madness of a Bill Bailey gig. He's brilliant, as deft with music as he is with words, and he makes it all look so easy.

Qualmpeddler was his 2012-13 tour and it's a hilarious stew of stand-up and musical numbers that transcend anything that can be classed as a "comedy musical pastiche". Like Bailey's version of the Downton Abbey theme, which is a reggae/trance anthem accompanying characters listing types of spoon; "tea spoon, egg spoon, grapefruit spoon".

Another highlight is Bailey's reworking of the Match of the Day tune that sounds like it's the harpsichord centrepiece of a musical evening in a Georgian drawing room. Glorious.

I have been enjoying Grace Dent's Saturday morning series on the history of radio comedy, The Frequency of Laughter. She's worked her way from 1975 to 2005, just by talking to two people who were involved in each five-year era. Her questions are insightful, and she creates a relaxed, slightly naughty atmosphere that brings out the best in her interviewees. A couple of them have been quite indiscreet, and what's made those indiscretions more enjoyable is that the producers have tracked down whoever they've been rude about and asked them what they remember. So, in the show that covered 1995-2000, radio producer Paul Schlesinger recalled Sean Lock and Bill Bailey being forced to read out episodes from 15 Storeys High to a reluctant commissioner, who said "I don't understand why this is funny", but grudgingly gave them a few episodes. And then we heard from that very commissioner, who insisted that this was "one of the most joyful moments" he'd ever had in his career, when Bill Bailey read for him. No mention of Lock, whose show it was. Hmm.

In the previous programme, covering 1990-95, Sarah Smith, another Radio 4 producer, admitted that she used to favour certain writers for the satirical sketch show Week Ending: new talent such as Richard Herring and Stewart Lee. Other producers didn't, and lo, we heard from one, Diane Messias. She explained clearly that she believed that topical satire should make a political point and that Lee and Herring didn't do this, creating their jokes by laughing at a situation. "Both methods are valid," she said firmly. "Except I'm right."