Bill Bailey | |
|---|---|
 Bailey in 2021 | |
| Born | Mark Robert Bailey (1965-01-13)13 January 1965 (age 60) |
| Education | Westfield College London College of Music |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Comedy career | |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Genres | Musical comedy,political satire,surreal humour |
| Website | billbailey |
Mark Robert Bailey[2] (born 13 January 1965), known professionally asBill Bailey, is an English musician, comedian, actor and television presenter. He is known for his role as Manny in the sitcomBlack Books (2000–2004), and for his regular appearances on the panel showsNever Mind the Buzzcocks,Have I Got News for You, andQI, as well as for hisstand-up comedy work. He plays a variety of musical instruments[3] and incorporates music into his performances.
Bailey was listed byThe Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy in 2003.[4] In 2007, and again in 2010, he was voted the seventh greatest stand-up comic onChannel 4's100 Greatest Stand-Ups.[5] He made an appearance in the filmHot Fuzz.[6] In 2020, he won the18th series of the televised BBC dancing competitionStrictly Come Dancing with his professional partnerOti Mabuse. Then aged 55, he is the oldest winner in the show's history as of 2024[update].[7] He is a cancer fundraiser[8][9] and has walked 100 miles for cancer fundraising in honour of his mother, who died in 2005,[10] as well as raising awareness for prostate cancer through television, print, and digital ads.[11]Bailey was awarded anhonorary doctorate by theUniversity of Bath on 11 July 2018.[12] In 2024, he became a patron of the Musical Comedy Awards.[13] He has written works includingBill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to British Birds,Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to Happiness, andMy Animals, and Other Animals, a memoir of sorts. He has established his own webpage and offers a shop,[14] including a list of his musical accomplishments since 1995.[15]
Mark Robert Bailey[16] was born on 13 January 1965 inKeynsham,Somerset,[17] son of Christopher[18] and Madryn[19] Bailey. His father was an NHSgeneral practitioner "who ran a little surgery in the front of the house", and his mother a hospital ward nurse.[20][21] Until 2018, when he revealed the correct date, his birthday was wrongly recorded by the media as 24 February.[22][23] He spent most of his childhood inKeynsham,[24] a town between Bath andBristol. His maternal grandparents lived in an annexe built on the side of the house by his maternal grandfather, who was a stonemason and builder. Two rooms at the front of the family house were for his father's surgery.[25]
Bailey was educated atKing Edward's School,[26] an independent school in Bath,[27] where he was a highly intelligent, academic pupil.[28] At about the age of 15, he joined the school band called Behind Closed Doors, which played mostly original work.[28] He is a classically trained musician,[28] and was the only pupil at his school to studyA-level music, which he passed with an A grade.[28] He also states he was good at sport and was the captain of the KES 2nd XI cricket team in 1982, and would often combine music and sport by leading the singing on the long coach trip back from away rugby fixtures.[25] It was here that he was given the nickname Bill by his music teacher for being able to play the song "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey" so well on the guitar.[25]
Bailey started studies for an English degree atWestfield College of theUniversity of London, but left after a year.[29] He received an Associate Diploma from theLondon College of Music.[28] He was also made an honorary member of the Society of Crematorium Organists.[30] He performed with a boy band called The Famous Five.[31][32] Acting roles included a part in aWorkers' Revolutionary Party stage production calledThe Printers withVanessa Redgrave andFrances de la Tour.[17]
Bailey began touring the country with comedians such asMark Lamarr. In 1984, he formed a double act, the Rubber Bishops, withToby Longworth,[33] It was there that Bailey began developing his own style, mixing in musical parodies with deconstructions of or variations on traditional jokes.[33] Longworth moved on in 1989, joining theRoyal Shakespeare Company (RSC),[33] and was replaced by Martin Stubbs.[33]
Stubbs later quit, and in 1994 Bailey performedRock at theEdinburgh Festival Fringe withSean Lock,[33] a show about an ageing rockstar and his roadie, script-edited by comedy writer Jim Miller. It was later serialised for theMark Radcliffe show onBBC Radio 1.[34] The show's attendances were not impressive and on one occasion the only person in the audience was comedianDominic Holland. Bailey almost gave up comedy to take up a telesales job.[34]
He went solo the next year with the one-man showBill Bailey's Cosmic Jam. Bailey combined hispost-modern jokes with music in his whimsical rambling style at theBloomsbury Theatre in London, which was broadcast in 1997 onChannel 4 as a one-hour special calledBill Bailey Live.[6]
After supportingDonna McPhail in 1995 and winning aTime Out award, he returned toEdinburgh in 1996 with a show that was nominated for thePerrier Comedy Award.[17]
Bailey wonBest Live Stand-Up award at theBritish Comedy Awards in 1999.[35]
In 1998, and wrote and presented the BBC television show,Is It Bill Bailey?.[6] Bailey's television debut had been on the children's showMotormouth in the late 1980s – playing piano for a mind-reading dog. Bailey reminisced about the experience on the BBC showRoom 101 withPaul Merton in 2000.[6] In 1991, he was appearing in stand-up shows such asThe Happening,Packing Them In,The Stand Up Show andThe Comedy Store. He also appeared as captain on two panel games, anITV music quiz pilot calledPop Dogs, and the Channel 4 science fiction quiz showSpace Cadets.[6]
Over the next few years, Bailey made guest appearances on shows such asHave I Got News for You,[6]World Cup Comedy,Room 101,[6]Des O'Connor Tonight,[6]Coast to Coast and three episodes of off-beat Channel 4 sitcomSpaced,[6] in which he played comic-shop manager Bilbo Bagshot. In 1998,Dylan Moran approached him with the pilot script forBlack Books,[36] a Channel 4 sitcom about a cold-hearted bookshop owner, his nice-guy assistant, and their socially awkward female friend. It was commissioned in 2000, and Bailey took the part of the assistantManny Bianco, with Moran playing the owner Bernard andTamsin Greig the friend, Fran. Three series of six episodes each were made.[36]
WhenSean Hughes left his long-term role as a team captain onNever Mind the Buzzcocks in 2002,[6] Bailey became his successor. HostMark Lamarr continually teased him about his looks and his pre-occupation with woodland animals. On 18 September 2008, it was announced that Bailey would leave the series and be replaced by a series of guest captains includingJack Dee andDermot O'Leary.[37] While touring in 2009, Bailey joked that the main reason for leaving the show was a lack of desire to continue hummingBritney Spears'Toxic to little known figures in theindie music scene. During this time he also left his position as "curator" ofthe Museum of Curiosity, and declared his intention to "retire" from panel games, although he has since appeared onQI many more times and hostedHave I Got News For You.[6]
Bailey has appeared frequently on the intellectual panel gameQI since it began in 2003,[6] alongside hostStephen Fry and regular panellistAlan Davies; he was the winner of the show's unaired pilot episode. Other television appearances include a cameo role in Alan Davies' drama seriesJonathan Creek[6] as failing street magician Kenny Starkiss and obsessed guitar teacher in the "Holiday" episode of Sean Lock'sFifteen Storeys High.[6] He later appeared with Lock again as a guest on his showTV Heaven, Telly Hell. He appeared twice onFriday Night with Jonathan Ross.[6] Bailey also hosted his own showComic's Choice, which aired in 2011.[6]
Bailey presentedWild Thing I Love You, which began onChannel 4 on 15 October 2006.[6] The series concentrates on the protection of Britain's wild animals, and has included re-homing badgers, owls andwater voles.[38]
In 2008, he played Maxxie's dad, Walter Oliver in episode one of the second series of the E4 teenage "dramedy"Skins[6] Bailey helpedKevin McCloud build his eco-friendly home in the first episode ofGrand Designs Live on 4 May 2008,.[6]
In 2009, Bailey appeared as Cyclops in the BBC showHustle,[6] In autumn 2009, Bailey presentedBill Bailey's Birdwatching Bonanza.[6]
Continuing his foray intonatural history, Bailey presentedITV1's half-hour wildlife mini-seriesBaboons With Bill Bailey.[39] The series was filmed inCape Town and spanned eight episodes, with exclusive content available on itvWILD.[40]
Bill Bailey played Droxil, a Harvest Ranger from the Planet Androzani Major, in the 2011 Christmas Special ofDoctor Who, titledThe Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe.[6]
In 2009, Bailey presented a project about the explorer and naturalistAlfred Russel Wallace, in the form of an Indonesian travelogue.[41] Bailey said in an interview that Wallace had been "airbrushed out of history", and that he felt a "real affinity" with him. In 2013, to coincide withthe centenary of Wallace's death, Bailey presented a two-part documentary,Bill Bailey's Jungle Hero, first broadcast onBBC Two on 21 and 28 April 2013.[42] He travelled around producing and filming the series inIndonesia andBorneo.[43]
Bailey took part in theeighteenth series of the televised dancing competitionStrictly Come Dancing, broadcast in late 2020.[44] He won the competition with his partner,Oti Mabuse, becoming the show's oldest winner at 55, displacing the previous oldest winnerJoe McFadden.[45] Their win made Mabuse the first dancer to receive the title two years in a row.[44]
Bailey voiced Grandfather Smed in the 2022 short filmThe Smeds and the Smoos.[46]
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In 2001, Bailey began touring the globe withBewilderness. A recording of a performance inSwansea was released on DVD the same year, and the show was broadcast on Channel 4 that Christmas. A modified version of it also proved successful in America, and in 2002 Bailey released a CD of a recording at the WestBeth Theatre in New York City. The show contained his popular music parodies (such as Unisex Chip Shop, aBilly Bragg tribute, which he also performed with Bragg himself at the 2005Glastonbury Festival), "three men in a pub" jokes (including one in the style ofGeoffrey Chaucer) and deconstructions of television themes such asCountdown andThe Magic Roundabout. ABewilderness CD was sold outside gigs, a mixture of studio recordings of songs and monologues Bailey had performed in the past; it was later released in shops asBill Bailey: The Ultimate Collection... Ever! That same year he also presented a Channel 4 countdown,Top Ten Prog Rock.
Bailey premiered his showPart Troll at the2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. A critical and commercial success, he then transferred it to the West End, where tickets sold out in under 24 hours, and new dates had to be added. He continued to tour it all over the UK as well as in Australia, New Zealand and the US. Bailey expanded on subjects such as thewar on Iraq. He also talks extensively about drugs, at one point asking the audience to name different ways of bakingcannabis. A DVD was released in 2004.
His 1995 showBill Bailey's Cosmic Jam. was released in 2005. The two-disc set also contained adirector's cut ofBewilderness, which featured a routine onStephen Hawking'sA Brief History of Time not seen in the original version.
Bailey performed a show at the2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe entitledSteampunk.
Bailey appeared at theBeautiful Days festival in August 2007. The UK leg of theTinselworm tour enjoyed three sell-out nights at theMEN Arena in Manchester, Europe's largest indoor arena, and culminated with a sell-out performance atWembley Arena.
Early in 2007, a petition was started to express fans' wishes to see him cast as a dwarf inThe Hobbit films, after his stand-up routine mentioned auditioning forGimli inThe Lord of the Rings. The petition reached its goal in the early days of January, and was sent to the producers. It was hoped that as theTinselworm tour took him toWellington where the film was in pre-production, he would be able to audition.[47]Dandelion Mind was released on DVD on 22 November 2010.
In 2012, his world tour entitledQualmpeddler toured the UK as well as returning to Australia and New Zealand in August and September 2012. In September and October 2018, Bailey toured his show,The Earl of Whimsy, to seven venues within New Zealand. In 2021, Bailey toured his new show,En Route To Normal, to venues in the United Kingdom andIreland. In 2022 Bailey took the tour to venues in Europe, and in October to Australia.[48]
Bailey plays numerous musical instruments, and incorporates music into his comedy. He hasperfect pitch.[49] His stand-up routines often feature music from genres such as jazz, rock (most notablyprog rock from the early 1970s),drum'n'bass, classical, and even theme songs, usually for comic value. Favourite instruments include the keyboard, guitar,theremin,kazoo andbongos. He also mentioned in an interview that he has achieved Grade 6Clarinet. He was part of punk band Beergut 100,[50] which he founded in 1995 with comedy writer Jim Miller and also featuredMartin Trenaman and Phil Whelans, withKevin Eldon as lead singer.[51] The band performed at the2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.[52] His musical routines include performing "The Star-Spangled Banner" in a minor key and performing theHokey Cokey in the style of the electronic band Kraftwerk.[49]
In February 2007, Bailey appeared twice with theBBC Concert Orchestra andAnne Dudley in a show entitledCosmic Shindig. Performed in theColosseum inWatford on 24 February and in theQueen Elizabeth Hall on 26 February, the show contained orchestrally accompanied versions of many of Bailey's previously performed songs, an exploration of the instruments of the orchestra and a number of new pieces of music. The Queen Elizabeth Hall performance was broadcast onBBC Radio 3 on 16 March 2007 as a part ofComic Relief 2007.
Bailey had planned to put himself forward as Britain'sEurovision entry in 2008, as a result of several fan petitions encouraging him to do so.[53]
In October 2008, he performedBill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra at theRoyal Albert Hall with theBBC Concert Orchestra, conducted byAnne Dudley.[54]
In November 2009, he was a guest onPrivate Passions, the biographical music discussion programme on BBC Radio 3.[55]
In July 2011, Bailey performed at theSonisphere Festival inKnebworth, headlining the Saturn Stage.[56] He released an album,In Metal, using songs played at Sonisphere, later that year.
In June 2014, The Music House for Children announced Bailey would become their patron alongsideSophie Ellis-Bextor in celebration of their 20th anniversary.
On 13 September 2025 Bailey made his debut at theBBC Proms, with a performance of "The Typewriter" byLeroy Anderson.[57] He later introduced the traditional rendition of "Auld Lang Syne", from theRoyal Albert Hall Organ, with phrases from Bach's "Toccata and Fugue" and "The Final Countdown" byEurope.[58][59]
Bailey lives in theHammersmith area ofLondon with his wife Kristin, whom he married in 1998, on a whim, inIndonesia. In 2009, he said: "We were travelling around Asia and sailed into a place calledBanda, with a beautiful lagoon, and a smoking volcano on one side and a Dutch colonial fort, an old church and remains of a little town on the other. We decided to get married there and then."[60] Their son Dax was born in 2003.[60]
Bailey supportsQueens Park Rangers[61] and describes himself as an avid fan ofStar Trek.[62]
He has a carnivorouspitcher plant named after him,Nepenthes x Bill Bailey, created by Borneo Exotics inSri Lanka.[63] His sporting interests includestandup paddleboarding (SUP). He is an active supporter ofBritish Canoeing.[64]
In 2021, Bailey's former collaborator and close personal friend, Sean Lock, passed away from cancer. In 2023, Bailey worked closely withChannel 4 to create theSean Lock Comedy Award to honour the memory of Lock.[65]
Bailey is a lifelong supporter of theLabour Party and appeared in its fifth party election broadcast of the2010 general election campaign.[66] In 2015, he endorsedJeremy Corbyn'scampaign in theLabour Party leadership election, saying, "Corbyn's nomination showed there is a kind of craving for a bit of honest speaking, a bit of principled plain speaking. But I think he is in a bit of a bind. Nuanced debate doesn't cut it in the toxic, political atmosphere. He’s having a fast-forward of his own political evolution, having to become 'a politician' – the thing he never was."[67]
Bailey is afeminist and a supporter of theFawcett Society.[68][69] He is also a prominent advocate of men's issues, most notably raising awareness ofprostate cancer and the Men United campaign.[70] He is a patron ofInternational Animal Rescue and has been instrumental in the organisation's campaign to rescue dancing bears.[71][72] He has also campaigned for theSumatran Orangutan Society. For his work inenvironmental conservation, he received anhonorary doctorate in conservation and sustainability from the AustralianUniversity of the Sunshine Coast in October 2014.[73]
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Cosmic Jam | |
| 2001 | Bewilderness | |
| 2004 | Part Troll | |
| 2006 | Steampunk | Edinburgh Festival |
| 2008 | Tinselworm | |
| 2008–2009 | Bill Bailey Live | Theatre tour with some material fromTinselworm, but mostly new material |
| 2009 | Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra | |
| 2010 | Dandelion Mind | |
| 2011 | Dandelion Mind – Gently Modified | |
| 2012–2013 | Qualmpeddler[74] | |
| 2015–2016 | Limboland | |
| 2016 | Larks in Transit | Australia and New Zealand |
| 2018 | UK | |
| The Earl of Whimsy | Australia and New Zealand | |
| 2021–2022 | En Route to Normal | UK, Ireland,[75] Australia, and New Zealand |
| 2023–2025 | Thoughtifier | Europe, Australia, New Zealand, UK, and Ireland |
| Title | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bewilderness | 12 November 2001 | Live at theGrand Theatre inSwansea |
| Part Troll | 22 November 2004 | Live at theHammersmith Apollo inLondon |
| Cosmic Jam | 7 November 2005 | Live at theBloomsbury Theatre in London |
| Tinselworm | 10 November 2008 | Live atWembley Arena in London |
| Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra | 23 November 2009 | Live at theRoyal Albert Hall in London |
| Dandelion Mind | 22 November 2010 | Live atthe O2 in Dublin |
| Qualmpeddler | 18 November 2013 | Live at theHammersmith Apollo in London |
| Limboland | 26 November 2018 |
| Title | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bewilderness | 2000 | |
| The Ultimate Collection... Ever! | 2005 | Re-release ofBewilderness with an extra track |
| "Das Hokey Kokey" | 2006 | CD single |
| In Metal | 2011 | Metal style re-recordings of Bill Bailey songs |
| Billy and the Minpins | 2017 | Roald Dahl audiobook with "The Magic Finger" read byKate Winslet |
| Award | Date | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Time Out Comedy Awards | Time Out Comedy Award (shared withSean Lock) | Won | [88] | |
| 1996 | Edinburgh Festival Fringe | Perrier award | Nominated | [89] | |
| 1999 | British Comedy Awards | Best Live Stand-Up award | Won | [35] | |
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