Bill Bailey: Vaudevillean

Bill Bailey is playing the Coventry Building Society Arena on Friday 13 November, with the show starting at 8:00pm. The tour is called Vaudevillean, and it's exactly what the name suggests: a mix of stand-up comedy, songs and a fair few other skills on display. It's less of a standard comedy set and more of a variety show, leaning into the old vaudeville tradition of putting different kinds of entertainment on one stage.

That musical side is where Bailey usually does his best work. He's a multi-instrumentalist and multi-lingual, and Vaudevillean draws on that, so expect the instruments to be as much a part of the act as the jokes. If you've seen him before, you'll know the music isn't just a bit of decoration—it's usually woven right into the comedy.

It's a long career that's led here. Born in Bath, he started out in the comedy circuit and was a founding member of The Rubber Bishops. He picked up a Time Out award in 1995 and a Perrier Comedy Award nomination the year after, and by 1999 he'd won the British Comedy Award for Best Live Stand-Up. That opened the door to prime-time TV: he spent six years as team captain on Never Mind the Buzzcocks and became a regular on Have I Got News for You and QI. He also had his own BBC2 series, Is It Bill Bailey?, and played Manny in the sitcom Black Books. More recently, he won series 18 of Strictly Come Dancing.

Tickets start from £58, and the show is at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Phoenix Way, CV6 6GE, on Friday 13 November at 8:00pm.