Bill Bailey: Bewilderness

Bill Bailey has always been a desirable addition to any comedy club-night. His considerable keyboard and guitar skills inevitably provide a memorable highlight to any line-up of comedians on the circuit. In short, the man has charisma; in a one-man show, however, Bailey's a little unfocused. Filmed at the Grand Theatre, Swansea, Bill Bailey--Bewilderness Live takes too long to get going. It's a form of self-deprecation designed to encourage endearment in his audience, but he spends so much time deconstructing his presence on stage that we begin to question the validity of him being there at all. Soon though, Bailey is comfortably installed behind his keyboard; it's then that the entertainment starts. He doesn't stick exclusively to songs, but makes the keyboard work for him as a box of sound effects. Bailey also throws in a few location-specific gags to make his audience feel special and gets an easy laugh with the idea of their national dish being cheese on toast. Jumping around from musing about the disappointment of Kinder Surprise eggs to medieval porn to men's tendency not to admit ignorance to a brilliant take-off of Chris de Burgh, which comes out of nowhere. Yes, Bailey lacks an inherent structure--unlike Harry Hill or Al Murray--so you could walk in half way through and not miss any underlying subtleties. Even without clever connections between individual set pieces, there are enough stand-alone moments of pure comic bliss that'll have you weeping with mirth.This is a man blessed with a good face for comedy and a likeable demeanour and softness (however accidental), which inclines you towards cutting him more slack.