Bill Bailey's Limboland is coming to Tasmania, writes JAMES BRADY
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ONE of England's beardiest comedians is bringing his world of the surreal and abnormal to the Tasmanian stage next month.
You may know him as Manny from Black Books, Bilbo from Spaced, or as a long-haired space wizard with a penchant for animal-themed humour.
Bill Bailey will deliver his Limboland show to Hobart and Launceston audiences on November 12 and 14.
The show is a reflection on Bailey's life with anecdotes around life lessons, travellers' tales, and "family holidays that go wrong".
"I guess really more generally, it's about how you imagine things are going to be and how they end up," he said.
"It's that gap between things, how you imagine them and how they turn out — life, a cup of tea, interviews, you never know what's going to happen.
"When I was writing the show a lot these ideas started to make their way into the show, the theme of it started to reveal itself, rather than setting out and thinking 'that's what I'm going to write about'.
"You start thinking 'there's a bit of a theme here, there's a thread running through this'."
Bailey said a large part of his inspiration was reflection on his seemingly hapless journey to stardom as he approached a new stage of life.
"My next birthday will be a milestone five decades, so there's a certain point that gives you pause to reflect," he said.
"It's sort of like 'Oh, OK how did this turn out like this?'
"How come I'm on stage with Deep Purple playing Smoke on the Water on cowbells? How the hell did that happen? Why am I on-stage with the Pythons, improvising with Michael Palin? I never ever thought this was going to happen.
"It's one of those things, I've often thought actually, I tried to address it a little bit in the show — what is it that makes you who you are? What are those things, the environment that you craft in, or is it something else?
"If it's nurture or nature, I think that's the big one."
GIG FACTS
WHO: Bill Bailey.
WHERE & WHEN: Princess Theatre, Launceston, on November 14, and in Hobart at Wrest Point Entertainment Centre on November 12.
READ MORE FROM BILL BAILEY IN THE SUNDAY EXAMINER THIS WEEK.