Bill Bailey's Tinselworm
Manchester Palace Theatre - 16th June 2009
Finally I get to see Bill Bailey. A great night it was too.
I'd got wind of the fact that Bill was doing the Palace Theatre for a few nights a month or so ago and I went straight out to get some tickets. The last couple of tours has seen the man do dreadful arenas like the MEN Arena, which is a terrible place for comedy, I should think. So seeing him in the confines of the Palace was a chance not to miss. I managed to get tickets at the front of the Circle, which is a lovely place to sit, so the seats were always going to be nice. The tickets were for the first night of a five-night run.
Anyhoo, the night arrived and we drove into town and negotiated the dreadful roadworks and diversions that have appeared in the centre leaving the roads a nightmare. I'm glad I don't go there in the day anymore! We parked up and wandered around the corner to the gig.
I checked out the gear on sale, as usual, but managed to walk away so I could buy MrsE some chocolate and all that. We wandered up to the seats and settled in. The stage was packed full of all his gears and featured a surprising number of lights and a big screen which showed a surreal selection of flashing light bulbs and occasionally a moth which would fly into a huge bulb. That kept us amused until the lights went down and the announcer started talking. It was a spoof announcement, of course. Then we were off...
The show was the Tinselworm show, so it featured material from the DVD that I'd got at Christmas, but that was fine as I've only seen it a couple of times and the "script" had been updated with some topical stuff and new jokes to pep it all up a bit. There was lots of ad-libbing with the crowd and the man himself was clearly having a good time. I can't remember all the jokes and songs, but you can watch the "Tinselworm" DVD to get an idea of how the show went. Needless to say, I spent the entire show pissing my sides laughing and had a good enough time to have MrsE comment on the fact that I was laughing too much.
I would have taken some pics and vids, but I was too busy laughing and there were quite a few camera nazis about asking people to stop taking pics and stuff, so I just didn't bother and relaxed into the show. It's a shame though, as the seats were prime spot for piccie-taking.
Anyway, two parts and quite a few encores later, Bill left the stage to the sounds of Talking Heads' "Once in a Lifetime" and we all traipsed out of the theatre. I'd paid for the car park in advance, so we got straight in the car, avoiding the queues for the pay-and-display and drove off home.
So, a great night and I wish I was going again tonight!
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