Bill Bailey’s remarkable guide to the orchestra

IF YOU THOUGHT you knew how an orchestra works, then think again – it’s all turned on its head in the hands of quirky comedian and classically trained musician Bill Bailey, whose mercurial mind works even faster than the fingers which play everything from piano to theremin.

IF YOU THOUGHT you knew how an orchestra works, then think again – it’s all turned on its head in the hands of quirky comedian and classically trained musician Bill Bailey, whose mercurial mind works even faster than the fingers which play everything from piano to theremin.

Bill Bailey’s live tour is a whistlestop tour of the stranger recesses of his maverick mind and shifts at every stage, from his musings on door signs while playing a sold-out night with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in November to the wilder excesses of music and comedy on his newly-released DVD recorded at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Over just a couple of hours, Bailey covers everything from Chris de Burgh and the Bee Gees to the Sorcerer’s Apprentice and then on to horror film and 1970s cop shows. Best of all are the expressions on the faces of members of the orchestra, as they wonder what this quirky maestro will do next with the music they’re playing – this is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it performance at its best, and a truly remarkable guide to music and an extraordinary mind.

This year’s tour dates for Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra run till 14 December – dates and tickets at www.BillBailey.co.uk and check for 2010 dates. Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra – released on Universal DVD and Blu-Ray.