Classically trained musician Bill Bailey performed with various bands during his early career, often feeling an urge to slip jokes into the performance. It wasn't until the late eighties that he was inspired to finally fuse his music with jokes and theatricality and become a stand-up comedian.
Bill won the British Comedy Award for Best Live Stand Up in 1999. In the Spring of 2002, having successfully toured the UK, he took his show Bewilderness to New York for an eight week sell out run at the WestBeth Theater Center, where The New York Times wrote of him, "Bill is an unalloyed pleasure, a treat for the funny bone, the brain and the ear", and "Bill Bailey is not an ordinary comic...he will lift your spirits". The Village Voice described Bill's humour as "...articulate low key wit" and The Telegraph (UK press) pronounced him "a hobbit with a wicked sense of humour." Bill was invited back to the USA at the end of 2002, where he performed the show for a nine week run at the 47th Street Theater, New York and appeared on The Conan O'Brien Christmas Special.
After touring successfully with his shows Part Troll, Tinselworm, Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra, and Bill Bailey: Live, Bill created Dandelion Mind, which he performed for an extended run of ten weeks at London's Wyndham's Theatre.
Aside from touring, Bill has performed at the Edinburgh Festival almost every year since his Cosmic Jam debut and has also appeared in plays on the Fringe; firstly in an extremely well-received production of 12 Angry Men, then as the slouchy, unkempt Oscar in the equally acclaimed The Odd Couple. Bill's British television portfolio is also extensive, most notably connected with the long running music / comedy panel show, Never Mind The Buzzcocks (BBC2) and hit comedy Black Books (C4).
Most recently, Bill returned to the US for a special performance at the Bonnaroo Music Festival, then headlined UK's premier metal festival Sonisphere in July 2011. He shared headline billing with Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax and Motorhead, marking the biggest ever outdoor comedy performance at a rock festival in the UK. Bill will follow up this appearance with a string of dates of his critically acclaimed "Dandelion Mind" one-man show in September at New York's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. Dates for Bill's winter 2011 arena tour have also just been announced.