Bill Bailey - One of the all time great entertainers?

Soldato
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I've just been watching Bill Bailey's Dandelion Mind, and it's just as good as his other shows if not better. His shows though aren't what a lot of people would consider a pure standup comedy performance, with so much centering around musical improvisation and pre-recorded clips that tie in with his on-stage jokes. Throughout the course of the show he engages in typical spoken standup, musical parodies, a poetry reading, and even music using instruments he has constructed himself.

My view/question is this - are there many true all round entertainers like Bill Bailey left? People who don't rely on a single element to keep the audience amused, but provide a whole range of entertainment within a single show?
 

mjt

mjt

Soldato
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Bill Bailey is a genius, but I can't help but feel he's past his prime.
I think he's trying too hard to be political rather than funny.
It's like when he stopped doing TV shows because he couldn't just take the **** out of people for the fun of it and mind-numbing television..
But he returned to QI..

Part Troll and Bewilderness were truly brilliant.
Tinselworm and Dandelion Mind are funny, but by no means his peak.

However, I can see your point. He really does branch out to different genres and audiences, especially with things like his Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra.
 
Soldato
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Another way of looking at it is that he needs all those props because his jokes and silly faces aren't actually that funny? At all?

Jump on the keyboard, play something that sounds foreign, pull a funny face, jobs a good'un.
 
Soldato
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I've seen most of his stuff, watched him live last year (in the westcountry no less!) and he was brilliant. Surprisingly sharp too, which is something that doesn't come through so much on the DVDs. He was quick to react and jibe with the audience in a way that only a seasoned stand up artist could be. He was also more political recently; though it's not all bad, some of the innocence and sheer crazyness of what makes him so brilliant is lost.
 
Soldato
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I've seen Bill live a few times and he never disappoints. The shows he puts on are always brilliant and with some cracking banter with the audience when seen live, especially when I saw him during the Fringe Festival a few years ago. I kind of agree that some of that is lost when you watch one of his tour DVD's maybe that's down to that particular show being recorded and he has to make it easy to edit due to the dvd running time.

I've watched Part Troll many a time and have never get bored of it....Bill on Argos is so funny and gets me every time! “The laminated book of dreams. You know why it's laminated, to catch the tears of joy!”:D
 
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