Review of the musical comic's ' new slab of noodling'

That blip of winning Strictly aside, not much changes in the world of Bill Bailey, who landed on his formula of stand-up and musical comedy skits long ago and has been steadily harvesting the rewards ever since at sensible intervals. 

His new show is the first since he shaved off his iconic hairy wisps (the poster has now been photoshopped to take this into account), and it lends him a sleeker look. But otherwise fans can justifiably expect the usual mix of whimsy, tall tales and unlikely musical mash-ups from a man who still very much looks and acts like your local Camra representative / druid.

There’s no narrative or real theme to his somewhat disjointed ideas, but an unexpectedly melancholy makes itself known in the first half, as the bucolic countryside image projected as his backdrop gradually and unnervingly morphs into a technological wasteland of wires and metal. 

Silly songs about crabs and routines about tranquilised polar bears are predicated on seas full of microplastics and vanishing Arctic habitats – set-ups that makes you laugh and feel gloomy at the same time. It seems that issues of climate change and technological excess are weighing on Bailey’s mind, but, unable to find a funny way to address them directly, he’s stealthing these feelings into the background of his stand-up, to awkward and faintly ominous effect. Safe to say he hasn’t quite found an effective way to talk about these topics on stage.

His relationship with AI is complicated as well. He introduces the subject by talking about its dangers and its inherent coldness but then goes on to make extensive use of it for a handful of extremely ropey routines that pick apart the weird faces it makes during image generation – a bit which already feels two years out of date. 

At this point I should probably be considering a keyboard shortcut for the phrase ‘the AI section is comparatively very weak’ but I guess you can’t blame comedians for wanting to experiment with new toys. Bailey’s flirtations with it are yielding rough dividends though, especially his AI sea shanty, in which he confuses the premise even further by not actually using AI, instead trying to approximate its tone in his own writing. Presumably because the AI wasn’t throwing up anything funny.

In the second hour, we’re on firmer ground. You can tell Bailey’s a bit of a frustrated rock star. Relaxed to the point of dispassion on stage, he comes alive when he’s tinkering around with his musical instruments, and his experiments are always informative and entertaining, even when he doesn’t quite tie them to a real joke. 

His minor key version of Happy Birthday done in the Berlin cabaret style is a clear highlight, as is his cover of Coldplay’s Yellow translated into Turkish and played on the bouzouki saw, and his laser harp disco essay on Pachelbel’s Canon. This is why you come to see Bill Bailey; he absolutely delivers in these moments. Two hours is a pretty long time for any comedian to spend on stage, but the concentration of good stuff towards the end of the evening helps it zip towards the finish line.

As a show it’s a mixed bag, by turns complacent and entertaining, hopping between dozens of ideas with variable success – including a few undeniable highlights. His fans will no doubt be satisfied with another generous new slab of noodling.

• Bill Bailey: Thoughtifier is at the Theatre Royal Haymarket until February 15. Tickets 

Review date: 30 Dec 2024
Reviewed by: Tim Harding
Reviewed at: Theatre Royal Haymarket