Tinselworm

For the last decade or more, Bill Bailey's star has been in the ascendant. After peddling his unique blend of musical prodigy and animal obsessed, occasionally drug referencing comedy unsuccessfully for years on the club circuit, ye olde gogglebox suddenly took notice of him - and his first filmed live show, Cosmic Jam was a smash hit. It was followed by a cult tv series, Is It Bill Bailey? (which featured a very young Simon Pegg, no less), for the BBC, then appearances in Pegg and Jessica Stevenson's seminal Spaced as hapless comic store owner Bilbo Bagshop.

Black Books was up next - a leading role beside the ever dour Dylan Moran and the ever frumpy Tamsin Grieg, and suddenly, the mainstream was calling - with regular appearances on QI and Have I Got News For You leading to a residency as team captain on Never Mind The Buzzcocks after the departure of Sean Hughes. And all the time this was happening, Live-Bill never rested - with the incredibly successful Bewilderness tour being quickly followed by the even bigger smash Part Troll. The inevitable live boxset eventually happened, selling huge numbers, and Bill turned his hand to documentary work - his love of animals had become enjoyable docu-light tv.

Which brings us to Tinselworm, Bill's latest tour - and at long last, he's made it big. Instead of grotty clubs and intimate venues, Tinselworm has headed straight to arenas - 10,000 people a show watching the cosmic hobbit at his prime.

And believe me, this is Bailey in his prime. There are a few fallbacks to older material - namely the Scale Of Evil and his usual anti-Bush stance, but make no mistake about it - this is an all-new show - with only the obligatory Love Song from the previous tour being drafted out of early retirement as part of the encore. Bill's wit and intelligence would seem daunting if his material wasn't delivered in such a shambolic, chatty style - he seems less Super Comic, Defender Of The Joke than he does Yer Mate Who Tells The Funny Stories. And what stories he has to tell - from a fabulous routine about confusing Americans by pretending to be the Mayor of London, to an explanation of the similarities between the AA and Al Qaeda, to a chant-a-long anthem proudly proclaiming his refusal to become Asda's bitch - Bailey is arguably better than ever.

Whereas most comedians take hecklers to task - witness, for example, the Mighty Boosh take on hecklers with twice as much venom as the show-spoilers themselves - Bill almost encourages it. At one of his Manchester Evening News Arena shows, someone in the audience decided to shout out that she was pregnant - and this cracked him up for a good five minutes, leading to an impromptu keyboard number that had to be heard to be believed. And hear it, you could - long after the show had finished, because his team have taken the wise idea of allowing you to buy the show (bar the encore) on audio cd as you leave the venue!

As Bill whizzes around the arena on his custom made Mini Scooter Trouser Press, one can't help but feel he's a giant kid that never grew up... a theory backed up by his 'alien abduction' method of leaving the stage... his delight at finding a squeaking rubber chicken filled with sweets on the stage (which, I have to admit, was my idea to throw onto the stage in the first place), and the fun he has arguing with four aspects of his personality on a giant video screen. Nevertheless, this is no bad thing - here's a comedian that doesn't swear often, doesn't rely on crudity to make a joke funny, and has not only great comic timing but genuine musical talent to back it up. You'd be a fool to miss this tour - and I hope some of you have made it there already.

Live photographs courtesy of Lauren Gavin. Ta, chick!