En Route To Normal

Apparently, Bill Bailey came up with the name of this show before the covids hit. It’s the title of his latest show, and, as was the case with his last tour, he’s decided to kick it off in New Zealand – in stark contrast to most other comedians and performers, who usually play New Zealand about two years after the rest of the world (if at all), long after the DVD has been released.

And where better to kick it off than in Wellington? Two shows on consecutive nights at the Michael Fowler Centre, before taking it to 11 other cities on a 17-date tour of the country. The UK gets the tour in December 2021 and January 2022, on the assumption that you’re all cured of the covids.

But first, of course, the traditional pre-show dinner. We’d arranged to meet up with James and Rupert, but, due to the show being on  (and presumably being Saturday night as well), our first two choices (Cin Cin and Apaché) were booked out, so we ended up in old fave Field & Green. Nothing wrong with that, and we had a slap-up dinner rounded off with their signature ice cream selection…I had peanut butter and chocolate, while Nicola had marmalade.

A quick walk up the street to the MFC, and we took our seats with minutes to spare. On came Bill, and boy, was he pleased to see us! And yes, he did mention the covids, as well as musing on his time in MIQ with Big Terry the sparrow and his pigeon cleaners. He was fairly scathing about the UK’s response, and did some standard St Jacinda-worshipping. He introduced us to some of his instrumentation, including the theremin, which is usually played with the hands but can also be played with the head. As usual, there were musical interludes, and the revelation that Kraftwerk had expanded their repertoire from traditional ballads into children’s entertainment. He gave us anti-Nazi limericks, and tales of derring-do (actually, more derring-don’t) whilst filming documentaries about birds of paradise. In the second half, having established that there were more German speakers (or, at least, German understanders) in the audience than he was expecting, he started to repeat the show in German. Surprisingly, we were able to follow it more or less, possibly helped by the fact that we’d heard it before, and the accompanying gestures. Fortunately, he switched back to English, then entertained us with the Metal Lifestyle at home, and answering the door to Jehovah’s Witnesses in said style. As the end of the show neared, he expanded on his thesis that any song sounds better when played in the Metal style, and invited suggestions from the audience to demonstrate this. One punter almost floored him by requesting Ave Maria, whilst the other song to get the treatment was Lady In Red. My suggestion (Remember You’re A Womble) was sadly ignored – maybe he recognised my voice from last time?

That about rounded the show up, and we went off home satisfied with our comedy entertainment. If you can get to a show, do so!