\u2018It\u2019s going quite well,\u2019 says Bill Bailey, 30 minutes into his new show. \u2018I think I\u2019ll do my joke.\u2019<\/p>\n
Yep, Bailey is on typically bewildered form in \u2018Limboland\u2019, which has landed in the West End for a Christmas run after a year of touring. The closest the 51-year-old comic gets to a one-liner is a lengthy, meandering gag that starts \u2018Lionel Richie walks into a bar\u2026\u2019 But quickfire jokes aren\u2019t Bailey\u2019s style, of course, and his trademark fanciful musings and musical deconstructions are out in force.<\/p>\n
\u2018We\u2019re in a strange time of extremes,\u2019 he explains at the top of the show, before launching into a wonderfully playful routine about the post-election political landscape and the Labour Party\u2019s current \u2018experimental album\u2019. As the show title suggests, Bailey feels caught in the middle; the long-time lefty\u2019s not quite sure what to think or who to believe in.<\/p>\n
From there, the grumblingly upbeat comic moves into jokes about typical British feelings or trying to explain Skype to his octogenarian father; and in the second half, there are more long-form stories as he explores what it actually means to be \u2018happy\u2019.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s Bailey\u2019s beautiful turns of phrase and imaginative similes that bring each tale to life. There\u2019s a whimsical poetry to every sentence; each observation is filtered through his fluffy brain like he\u2019s in one long, extended daydream.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s when he gets behind an instrument that the musically-dexterous comic is at his best. Remixes of iPhone ringtones, German death metal covers of Abba songs and \u2018Happy Birthday\u2019 reimagined as a 1930s Berlin cabaret number and a Moby masterclass are just a few highlights.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a musical theme to his stories too, as he describes an awkward encounter with Sir Paul McCartney and a trip to see \u2018boneless chickens\u2019 One Direction at the O2.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s Bailey on top form; joyous, playful and effortlessly funny. \u2018Limboland\u2019 brings more festive cheer than Santa this Christmas.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Contentment is knowing you’re right. Happiness is knowing somebody else is wrong. Danish hygge could be considered as “cosiness of the soul”. The Danes insist though that hygge was never meant to be translated. It was meant to be felt. \u2018It\u2019s going quite well,\u2019 says Bill Bailey, 30 minutes into his new show. \u2018I think…<\/p>\n
Read More “The tao of Bill Bailey”<\/span> »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,52],"class_list":["post-25249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bill-bailey","tag-london"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3u9vK-6zf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flubu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flubu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flubu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flubu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flubu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25249"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.flubu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25297,"href":"https:\/\/www.flubu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25249\/revisions\/25297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flubu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flubu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flubu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"wp-1450817819458.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.flubu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/wp-1450817819458.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n