Bill Bailey (II)

Radio Times review

Before I started watching this I thought, "I wonder if they'll add some sleigh bells over the thrashy theme music" and I'm delighted to say they have. There's also a spangly snowflake backdrop and several Christmas-themed claims/tales/festive fibs.

To wit, "These are two of the best gifts I was given last Christmas," announces David Mitchell, flourishing a top hat and magic wand and prompting all of us to try to picture what Christmas Day might be like at the Coren Mitchells.

But the best prop arrives when Bill Bailey introduces a pet bird called Jacob, that he claims he once smuggled into the cinema with him. The fact it's a cockatoo is heroically ignored, even by Lee Mack: no pre-watershed-unfriendly gags here (although why Mitchell's enthusiastic mime of church bell-ringing gets a laugh might take some explaining). Kelly Holmes, Jo Brand and Ruth Jones add to the mendacious merriment.

Radio Times review

Those QI elves have been busy. We learn that every episode of QI since the start has included a secret coded message that nobody has spotted. And that's not the only bauble: at the end, Stephen Fry gets a (literally) magical surprise gift and it brings such childish joy to his face, it feels like a proper Christmas moment.

Elsewhere, there's a hilarious ad lib from Johnny Vegas when a studio bulb blows, keyboard skills from Bill Bailey, and some improvising around that little-known (but genuine) musical, The Bathrooms Are Coming.

Review: Bill Bailey, Vaudeville Theatre

If there is a theme, it is to take enjoyment in the world around us.

Bill Bailey review

Ever fancied an evening of surreal family holiday tales and a medley of ABBA through the lens of death metal?

Bill Bailey review - back to his blithe best

From riffs on Labour's 'experimental' period to a German-language heavy-metal Waterloo, Bailey's ticklish joy in the trivial delights a warm crowd.

Opinion: why star ratings don't tell the whole story

I went to see Bill Bailey at the Vaudeville Theatre last night. I reviewed the show for the Evening Standard and gave it four stars. During a brief email exchange with a sub-editor I mentioned that it was nearly a five star show and she replied that my review made it sound like almost a five star review too. So why didn't it get the full quintet?

Bill Bailey: Limboland, Vaudeville Theatre, review

'The brainiest comedian of his generation'

Bill Bailey, Limboland, review

Bill Bailey hit the ground running with a show that offered huge laughs.

Bill Bailey's Christmas message

The comedian reveals his Hawaiian pudding nightmare - and explains why he ignores Christmas in his shows.

Man charged over Bill Bailey tour van theft

Francis Whittaker will appear in court today, accused of taking the Mercedes Sprinter Splitter van from the car park of the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall where Bailey was appearing on October 26.