LAUGHS A-PLENTY FROM COMEDIAN
BRITISH comedian, actor and musician Bill Bailey will perform at The Theatre in The British International School KL in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya (opposite Centrepoint) on Dec 10.
His brand new show, Larks In Transit is a compendium of travellers’ tales and the general shenanigans of his 20 years as a travelling comedian.
With musical virtuosity, surreal tangents and trademark intelligence, he tackles politics, philosophy, the pursuit of happiness, death metal, ringtones and an excruciating encounter with Sir Paul McCartney.
Bailey is a comedian, musician and actor well known for his brilliant live shows Dandelion Mind, Tinselworm, Bewilderness, Part Troll, Qualmpeddler and Limboland plus his work on television in Never Mind the Buzzcocks, QI and Black Books.
Raised in the West Country, Bailey was once in a group called The Famous Five — an unsuccessful band with only four members. Although a talented musician, Bailey always felt an urge to slip jokes into the music.
This did not work out and harbouring theatrical ambitions, he spent the early 1980s touring with a Welsh experimental theatre troupe and appearing on stage with the Workers’ Revolutionary Party.
He supplemented these with stints as a lounge pianist and a keyboard player in a jazz trio. It was a John Hegley gig that finally inspired him to fuse the music, jokes and theatricality and become a stand-up comedian.
In 2003, Bailey branched out as a dramatic actor in a well-received production of 12 Angry Men, as the restrained Juror 4. Two years later he assumed the vastly different role of the slouchy, unkempt Oscar in The Odd Couple and received excellent reviews.
In 2011, Bailey travelled to South Africa to record Baboons With Bill Bailey for ITV. This eight-part series provided a unique insight into the lives of these intelligent, complicated primates, with incredible, candid footage of their daily lives, following their stories as they struggle to survive in a busy and exotic urban landscape.
In the same year, Bailey featured in the line-up at The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival — a four-day, multi-stage camping festival held on a 283.3 hectares farm in Tennessee.
This year sees Bailey developing more ideas for film and television with his own production company Glassbox Productions who are responsible for bringing to the screen Tinselworm, Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide To The Orchestra, Dandelion Mind and Qualmpeddler.
nstent@nst.com.my