Bill Bailey: Tinselworm

Universal

R4 DVD

Bailey will be more familiar to most as Manny, Bernard Black’s long-suffering assistant in the British sitcom Black Books. I was not aware that he was also a stand-up comedian but this DVD showcases his rather sophisticated style of humour.

The Tinselworm tour finished up in the giant Wembley Stadium where this DVD was made. It is a rambling, apparently unstructured show that seems to go wherever Bailey’s mind takes it rather than follow a predetermined path. He punctuates his monologue with musical interludes (he is also a trained musician) and Duelling Banjos on guitar and sitar has to be heard to be believed. Even his music, though, has little unexpected twists.

At first I was a bit mystified at his style of humour. It didn’t seem terribly funny, apparently lacking punchlines to many of his jokes. Then I realised that he was carefully and skilfully building a scenario with words and leaving the rest to the listener’s imagination. It is a style that depends on a highly literate and imaginative audience since he plays with the English language like a musical instrument. At Wembley he had such an audience.

“2003 – Tourism is inexplicably on the increase in Baghdad. Strange Kevlar-suited tourists at the border posts – “Reason for visit?” “Regime change” “Occupation?” “Oh, I expect so””

CERN Large Hadron Collider “The spectrum for success of this experiment ranges from “nothing will happen” to “a black hole will be created under Switzerland”. That is quite a large margin of error”.

He does do a few one-liners, such as when discussing conspiracy theory: “Gravity is a CIA plot to keep us on Earth”

Once I warmed up to his style I thoroughly enjoyed the show. Bailey is a craftsman of the English language, his style of humour is subtle rather than in-your-face, and he doesn’t find it necessary to punctuate his patter with swearing. The lack of swearing makes him a refreshing change from so many other comedians. He is just a genuinely funny man.

Reviews appear on the Synergy website with a single cover image. In the digital and print edition, reviews appear with multiple images and with expanded content.

This review will appear in Volume 3 No. 5 of the digital and print edition of Synergy.

We recommend you download the free digital edition (or buy the print edition) to get the most from Synergy. The print and digital editions of Synergy also include a large selection of articles and features not found on the website. If you have a limited download quota you can view the digital edition via the Issuu viewer on the digital edition page.

If you came to this page directly (and missed our menu), click here to go to the front page of Synergy Website or use the following link: http://www.synergy-magazine.com