BILL BAILEY – TINSELWORM

Music and comedy are two different forms of entertainment that have an awful lot in common. They're both enjoyable to listen to. They're both captivating to behold. Plus to top it all off, the comedian -- Bill Bailey -- performs them both very well. Yeah. He did it  for a whole 90 minutes in 2008.


Tinselworm


THE STORY:

What do you get if you take a heavy dose of comedy, an ear full of music, and then funnel them both threw a stand-up comic, live, at London's Wembley Stadium?

Yep. That's correct, folks! You get the hippy wonder of stage and screen, Bill Bailey, in this stand-up comedy / musical extravaganza.

Now in fine fashion Bill starts off his show by elaborating on a conversation he once had in Los Angeles, before taking to his electronic keyboard and then lavishing his audience with a number of musical ditties, all of which coincide with these subjects of note: (1) Doorbell Variations. (2) God. (3) The Meaning of Existence. (4) Star Wars. (5) Jazzed-Up National Anthems. (6) What Not to Ask an Employer at a Job Interview. (7) His Childhood. (8) Scientology. (9) Tattoos. And (10) Many, many more.

Also, to aide him with his performance, not only does Bill expertly utilize his own musical ability, but behind him, upon a big screen, are synchronized pieces of animation which complements whatever he’s performing on stage. Honestly. Nigh on every piece of dialog spoken is enhanced one way or another, all to imbue a dramatic tension during Bill’s act. Here, check out these quotes to see what I mean...

• Hey, ASDA, I ain't gonna be your bitch!
• Without the beat in the background, Jazz basically sounds like an armadillo let loose on the keyboard.
• I feel sorry for James Blunt. He wakes up every morning and screams 'Oh God. I'm James Blunt. What have I done to deserve this?'.
• It's joggers I don't trust. They're the one who always find the bodies.
• I got ham, but I'm not a hamster.
• It's the augmented fourth, or diminished fifth, depending on your outlook on life.
• Countries are actually closer than you might think. Pilots just fly airplanes around longer to make you think they're far away. 
• Go into your local branch of UBS, and say to them 'I'd like to open an account please". And when they say 'What with?' take out a loud hailer and yelp 'NAZI GOLD! Just like you did!.
• Look at the flag of Belarus: Two bears fighting over a pineapple. What kind of message does that send out to the world? 'Come to Belarus, where wild animals will steal your fruit'.

When Bill eventually closes his show, he is accompanied on stage by a number of other musicians of Indian origin, and together, they jam to an augmented version of 'Battling Banjos', with Bill playing the electric guitar, and with one of his Indian compatriots playing a sitar. Then, once this set is complete, Bill gives his final statements, just as a spaceship fallacy descends over the auditorium for him to take his leave.

Bill has now left the solar-system.

THE REVIEW:

Now before I complement the cr*p out of 'Bill Bailey - Tinselworm', please allow me to tell you a story from my own past. Picture the scene. Me. Thirteen years of age. At school. Discussing my musical future with my then Music teacher, Mister Preston.

MR PRESTON: Why do you want to stop boy? Please let me understand why you're making this decision.
ME: I don't see a future in it, sir.
MR PRESTON: Why not? You're a talented musician who can play the clarinet and the piano!
ME: Yeah. Thanks for that. But I've got to choose my final year study opinions for my GCSE's, and... well... it was down to art or music. And I chose art.
MR PRESTON: Hmmm. Yes. Art. You are a dab hand at the old pencil, aren't you. Yet I do not understand why you prefer that more than this. Your music.
ME: I don't know either, sir. Not really. It all came down to a toss of a coin.
MR PRESTON: Seriously? How daring of you!
ME: It was the only way I could choose between these two subjects, sir. I love art. I love music. But as you know, I can only choose one of them for my final examinations. Not both. I want to choose them both. Sure I do. Yet I can't. The school won't allow it.
MR PRESTON: I wish there was something I could do, boy. However, those are the rules we all have to abide by. Still. Do you really want to stop something you've been doing very well at for the last three years due to a toss of a coin? Why not think about it a bit more? I can delay the school board for a day or so?
ME: But it's like what I said earlier, sir, I can't see a future in me playing music. I want to get a job in multimedia when I get older. And as I've already chosen 'Computing' as one of my options, that only left... well... you know the rest. Art won by a coin toss.
MR PRESTON: OK. I won't push you on this matter any further. I only did so in the first place because I know you were 'worth saving'.
ME: That's cool, sir. I just hope that I don't later regret it.

And did I regret it? Did I regret kicking music to the curb in favor for computing and art? Well, I'd be a liar if I said I didn't. Sometimes I still have that itch within me to twinkle on the ivory's and meld into the musical unknown. But life is life, huh? We can't all be like Billy Bailey. The West Country musical comedian who just ripped up the screen in this f*cking amazing show.

Ha! I bet you were wondering when I was going to get around to 'Bill Bailey - Tinselworm', didn't you? Though I suppose one of the main reasons why I started this review in this manner, is because I wanted to illustrate that certain people are meant to travel certain paths in their respective careers. I did when I chose my path. Whilst Bill did when he chose his.

Praise the Lord he did too! From the very start of his act you can tell you're going to be in for a real treat when Bill takes the bull by the proverbial horns, and then rambles on about stuff and nonsense in his own charming Yorkshire brogue.

Now I'm sure -- to Bill -- music and comedy must be like how a bird perceives water and air. Taking two partly relatable entities and then amalgamating them both together as if they were a part of the same whole. Grabbing them. Blending them. And then making them something that is truly out of this blooming world.

Come on! Lets face it! Have you ever seen a comedian perform a routine about doorbells or the Moldavian national anthem, and demonstrate this with the use of a keyboard?

If so, drop me a line, OK? If not, watch this DVD now.

Personally speaking, I don't think there's a comedian alive that's anything like Bill Bailey. In his own way he can make you laugh, think, wince, and smile, with his comedy, with his music, and with his renegade appearance, that makes him come across like a roadie who has escaped from a mental asylum.

Honestly. His talent knows no bounds. Out of thin air Bill can take everyday observational comedic material -- set them to music -- and then makes it his own, one hundred percent. So if you're a fan of music, comedy, or English humor, then what are you waiting for? Pick up 'Bill Bailey - Tinselworm' today. It'll definitely be one for you to watch. It's a class act through and through.

THE RATING: B+