TITLE: Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide To The Orchestra
RELEASE DATE: 23rd November 2009
RATING: 3/5
Notorious for his time as panel leader on Never Mind The Buzzcocks, as well as his outstanding stand up comedy (Part Troll, Bewilderness), the news of Bailey’s ‘Remarkable Guide To The Orchestra’ is exciting, to say the least.
Recorded last year at the Royal Albert Hall, the musical funnyman teams up the BBC Concert Orchestra in this DVD/ Blu Ray release (available from 23rd November)
Opening with a Benjamin Britten-esque walk through of the orchestra’s instruments, you unwittingly learn whilst giggling. Yet, as Bailey traverses a path much travelled, fans will be disappointed at the lack of new material. ‘Hats Off To The Zebra’ – previously seen in two of his stand up shows – seems tired now, yet his skit on the Cockney leitmotif is ever endearing
A sense of catering to a wider audience wafts throughout the feature, risqué jokes omitted, and ad-libs truncated. What Bailey does manage, however, is propellation into a vaster comedy universe. He’s well-versed, educational, knowledgeable and fun. Yet this rather more serious collage of witty musical repartee seems more appropriate for a GCSE music class towards the end of Christmas term.
Whilst followers will be disappointed with the lack of new material and distinct rehashing of old stuff, those who can’t recite his ‘Chaucher Pubbe Gagge’ word for word, will be pleasantly engaged, and surely encouraged to check out his earlier material.
– RED
