Bill Bailey: Part Troll

[Psygnal]

Bill Bailey is a standup comic who is probably best known for his portrayal of Manny on the UK comedy "Black Books". This role has probably helped to drive the popularity of his stand-up act.

Part Troll is a camera pointing at a stage for Bill's live stand-up routine in Hammersmith, UK. It's been out for a while, but if you've missed it, you really should treat yourself.

Bailey describes himself, on-stage with shoulder-length hair and wearing a small microphone, as looking like a Wizard in a Call Centre.

So what is Bill Bailey all about?

He's something of a social commentator, one hell of a fine musician, loves to play with his audience, and tells jokes that can physically hurt you if you are half way through a cup of coffee when you hear them.

Part Troll is a very slick production indeed. Bill runs through his many talents at a frenetic pace, one moment he is Bush-bashing... the next he's singing a rather risqué song... then he's making the audience clap (JUST ONCE!) while he pretends to be a hunch-backed giant breaking a stick. It's all very weird, and very very funny.

Part of the charm is Bill's extraordinary ability to express very complex concepts with his rather impressive range of facial expressions. He can go from "Evil Club Pianist" putting subliminal messages ("I live in your eyes!") into cheesy songs, to bewildered druid ambling through the world wondering why it's laughing at him... all in the space of a heartbeat.

He also manages to do all this without turning the air blue around him with profanities, which makes a nice change for a modern comic. Having said that, his views on America, Christianity (Well... any organised religion really) and drug use are guaranteed to offend at least a few out of his target demographic.

Wrap this up with some extremely clever musical numbers, bad dancing, and a cynical viewpoint about the world ("Three men walk into a bar. One of them is a bit stupid. The whole thing just spirals downhill from there with a tedious inevitability.") and you have an hour and a half of Live Performance DVD well worth the money, with some genuinely amusing video diary footage in the Extra Features.

Psyg'

[Bongo]

I wish I could remember who I loaned my Ed Byrne DVD to. They're due a good thrashing for keeping it so long.

Bongo

[Bongo]

I'm starting to hate that photo. "Look at my big googly eyes, they are so funny..." "...no, Bill, they aren't."

Does he still do that rolling-his-eyes-at-the-camera-for-five-minutes-in-silence thing to set the tone for the show? I've always thought it's a bit unfortunate that that's exactly what it does.

Bongo

[Karl]

Part Troll was a great show, I managed to see it live here in London.

Best part of Bailey for me is always the musical stuff he does.