Kicking off in Coventry on 29 January 2018, Larks In Transit will tour the length and breadth of the UK throughout spring, culminating at Peterborough Arena on 9 June 2018.
LARKS IN TRANSIT is a compendium of travellers’ tales and the general shenanigans of twenty years as a travelling comedian. With musical virtuosity, surreal tangents and trademark intelligence, Bill Bailey tackles politics, philosophy and the pursuit of happiness.
Plus, he fashions a symphony from a ringtone, tells the real story of Old McDonald and re-imagines the Stars and Stripes. Two decades of touring larks from a comic described by The Telegraph as “the brainiest comic of his generation.”
British Comedy Award winner, Bill Bailey has enjoyed success on the live stage for many years. In 2001 he took his show Bewilderness to New York for an eight week run at the Westbeth Theatre. The New York Times wrote of him, “Bill is an unalloyed pleasure, a treat for the funny bone, the brain and the ear” and The Telegraph pronounced him “a hobbit with a wicked sense of humour”.
In 2004 he performed his show Part Troll at over fifty venues around the UK, culminating in an extended run at London’s Wyndhams Theatre. In 2007 he embarked on a sold-out UK arena tour with his audio-visual, comedic extravaganza, Tinselworm. He took the show down under during the summer of 2008, touring Australia and New Zealand, before returning to London in December 2008 for a ten week run of the show at The Gielgud Theatre.
The summer of 2009 saw Bill tour the UK once again with his live show, Bill Bailey Live. Later that same year, following his performances at London’s Royal Albert Hall and the resulting critically acclaimed BBC2 television broadcast, Bill enjoyed a very successful UK tour of his musical comedy extravaganza, Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra.
Performing alongside some of the UK’s finest orchestras, the show provided fans with the opportunity to see Bill’s surreal comic and musical imagination at its best and was described by The Telegraph as “a glorious achievement,” The Guardian as “sublime hilarity” and Stephen Fry as “wonderfully enjoyable… like driving a Rolls-Royce off-road.”
In 2010 Bill Bailey toured the Scottish Highlands with his live show, Dandelion Mind, where he enjoyed performing to small intimate crowds. Bill then went from playing at some of his smallest gigs to one of his biggest, performing a huge open air homecoming gig at Bristol’s Ashton Gate Stadium in June of that year.
This was followed by an international tour of Dandelion Mind across Australia and New Zealand. Bill proceeded to take the show into London’s West End where it was described by The Times as “a consistently inventive mix of sociopolitics, art history, anthropology and astrophysics, it may well be his best show yet!”
At the end of 2011, Bill took Dandelion Mind (Gently Modified) out to the masses with a full tour of the UK.
Bill followed Dandelion Mind with yet another hit show, Qualmpeddler, with which he toured Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Latvia, Estonia, The Netherlands and of course the UK, where he wrapped the tour with a massive gig at London’s Wembley Arena.
Described by The Guardian as “one of Bailey’s best shows for years ««««“, Bill’s most recent live show, Limboland, was arguably one of his most successful ever. Having performed the show to in excess of 230,000 fans, across 170 sell-out dates in the UK alone, including a six week run in London’s West End, the critics were unanimous in their praise for Limboland.
Bill has also performed at the Edinburgh Festival almost every year since his debut, Cosmic Jam, in 1995. His 1996 follow up, Bill Bailey Live, earned him a nomination for the prestigious Perrier Award. The fringe has also seen Bill branch out as a dramatic actor, firstly in an extremely well-received production of 12 Angry Men, as the restrained Juror 4, two years later as the slouchy, unkempt Oscar in the equally acclaimed, The Odd Couple.
In 2011 Bill performed one of the biggest comedy gigs in the world, performing to some 60,000 fans at Knebworth, when he headlined the Sonisphere Rock Festival alongside rock gods Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax.
Having played at the first ever Comedy Session at the iconic Eden Project in Cornwall, Bill is a regular on the festival circuit with previous appearances at both Kew The Music and the Reading and Leeds Festival, to name but two.
Having taken over from Sean Hughes in 2002, following eleven successful and enjoyable series, autumn 2008 saw Bill step down from his role as team captain on the long running music, comedy panel show, Never Mind The Buzzcocks (BBC2).
In addition to Buzzcocks, Bill’s TV portfolio includes three series of the hit black comedy Black Books (C4) in which he played the increasingly deranged ex-accountant Manny Bianco opposite fellow comic Dylan Moran, acclaimed comedy Spaced (C4), Is It Bill Bailey? (BBC2) and Bill Bailey Live (C4). He appeared in the comedy drama serial Jonathan Creek (BBC1) as well as the edgy teen drama Skins (C4). Bill has guest hosted the satirical panel show, Have I Got News for You (BBC1) and can be seen as a regular panelist on QI (BBC1). Bill was also in the 2011 Doctor Who Christmas Special, The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe, in which he played a Droxil, a Harvest Ranger from the Planet Androzani Major.
In December 2010 Bill starred in and co-wrote and directed (alongside Joe Magee) his own short film, Carpark Babylon, for Sky1’s Little Crackers series. It was described as “wonderfully zany” by Radio Times and by Time Out as “absolutely hilarious: lots of music often clashing horribly and humourously, whimsy, inventive use of language, surreal nightmarish moments with unsettling sound effects. If his bizarre conversations with a car-park ticket machine don’t make you laugh, it’s unlikely anything will”.
At around the same time, Bill hosted his own mini chat show, Comic’s Choice, for C4, which aired in the run up to the 2010 British Comedy Awards. In the series, which celebrated the awards’ move to the channel, Bill interviewed a number of Britain’s leading comics about their favourite comedy shows and talents.
Nurturing his interest in nature, Bill hosted both the wildlife series Wild Thing I Love You (C4) and Bill Bailey’s Birdwatching Bonanza (Sky1), in which he pitted well-known faces against one another as they tracked down some of the UK’s most elusive birds. In 2011 he presented Baboons with Bill Bailey (ITV1) where he followed the various antics of three troops of Baboons living in South Africa’s Cape Town.
In 2013 Bill fronted a two part BBC2 documentary, Bill Bailey’s Jungle Hero, in which he retraced the steps of his unsung hero of the natural world, Alfred Russel Wallace. In Jungle Hero Bill told of Wallace’s extraordinary 8 year expedition across Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore in his quest to unravel the mystery of the Origin of Species. The show recently won a hatrick of awards at the Royal Television Society West of England Awards including Best Specialist Factual Programme and Best Male On-screen Talent.
In the summer of 2014 Bill performed alongside Paloma Faith and Kaiser Chiefs among others, on the bill of Live at Edinburgh Castle, a spectacular concert broadcast live on BBC1 from Scotland’s magnificent castle.
On the big screen, Bill appeared in the film Saving Grace, had a cameo appearance in the comedy feature Hot Fuzz and was seen playing Farmer Macreadie in the comedy sequel, Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang. Bill also appeared in the recent John Landis comedy Burke and Hare and the snowboarding rom-com, Chalet Girl.
Bill has appeared across the BBC radio airwaves. In addition to his Radio 3 Orchestra special, he played the Museum Curator in the Radio 4 comedy panel series Museum of Curiosity.
Last summer Bill wrote and illustrated Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide to British Birds. With “prose as charming as it is informative,” (Chortle) and “surreal and charming sketches accompanying his informative descriptions,” (BBC Countryfile Magazine) the book was a humorous and personal insight into his favourite British Birds, packed with Bill’s own anecdotes, drawings, cartoons and field notes. Coast Magazine described the book as “insightful and informative, full of lovely illustrations, sketches and notes… With witty descriptions and fascinating facts, this is the ideal companion for anyone who loves the natural world.”
Bill was recently presented with an Honorary Doctorate of the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia for his outstanding contribution to the environment on a global scale. Vice-Chancellor and President of the University, Professor Greg Hill said, “We believe Bill’s commitment to wildlife conservation and sustainability, particularly in Southeast Asia and Indonesia, demonstrates excellence and deserves recognition.”
Bill has long been a supporter of numerous charities including International Animal Rescue, with whom he visited dancing bear sanctuaries in India in 2005. He is also patron of Good Vibrations and The Music House for Children, as well as an Ambassador for Youth Music. He continues to support many others, including The Sumatran Orangutan Society, Bowel Cancer UK, Prostate Cancer UK, The Asthma Society and Reprieve.
This summer, in memory of his mother who he lost to bowel cancer in 2005, Bill will be walking The Ridgeway Walk in support of Stand Up To Cancer, a charity very close to Bill’s heart. Joined by a number of his closest pals, Bill will be trekking the 100-mile route from Bedfordshire to Wiltshire over six days at the end of June.