Most people have commented as saying that this is the best televised live show from the Black Books and Never Mind the Buzzcocks comedian. Live at the Apollo theatre, Bill Bailey brought us probably his greatest show. It combines his great observational jokes, his musical talents with almost any instrument, and some on the spot jokes. The best jokes of this particular show though are all the musical ones. I can remember the best songs and pieces of music: "Love Song" encompassing all aspects of love (betrayal, hatred and depression), "Skale of Music" with pictures of evil people to certain notes on the keyboard (including Adolf Hitler, Edi Amin and Chris De Burgh), "New National Anthem" using the lyrics of "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", "Drum 'n' Bush" using pieces of George W. Bush's talks, a funky "BBC News" theme, "Lady x 3" with German lyrics, and the Kraftwerk Tribute with German lyrics, using the words "Oakey Cokey" and appearing Lenny Henry in Pieces' Martin Trenaman. It was number 21 on The 100 Greatest Funny Moments, and Bill Bailey was number 7 on 100 Greatest Stand-Ups. Very good!
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jboothmillard24 April 2007
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TheNorthernMonkee25 May 2005SPOILERS Well known from his role in sitcom "Black Books" and his role as a team captain on "Never Mind The Buzzcocks", Bill Bailey still does the occasional stand up comedy. Like so many comedians turned actor, Bailey does look slightly out of practice on a stage, but different to others, he remains hilarious and random throughout.
BBC News, the national anthem, Dolphins, America, Bill Bailey's range of topics is both extreme and surreal. Using music to aid him, Bailey is always hilarious.
Bailey always inspires laughter. Not degrading himself into really horrendously insulting anyone, if at all, Bailey's forte is combining novel ideas on old topics with the random and obscure. Combining an old childhood favourite song with a modern music band to produce an alternative national anthem is just one of many radical ways in which Bailey causes the audience to strain themselves laughing.
If you watch programmes like "Black Books" its so easy to forget how funny Bill Bailey is as a stand up. Hilarious from the offset until an explosive Kraftwerk tribute, Bailey never ceases to entertain and is a joy to watch. A true reminder of the beauty of stand up. -
The_Void23 January 2005Bill Bailey's 'Part Troll' tour is quite possibly the funniest thing ever filmed. Ever. The amazingly talented comedian completely owns the stage, and gets laughs from a number of different means - most notably his guitar, keyboard and drum and bass sequences. It's amazing just consistently hilarious this show really is; I have quite a good sense of humour, but even I rarely see a show that will have me covering my eyes because I cannot bear to watch the hilarious facial expressions of Bill Bailey as well as hear what's coming out of his mouth for fear of being sick due to laughing so hard. Threads involving the BBC news, George Bush's words of wisdom being implemented into a drum and bass beat (which Bill calls 'Drum and Bush') and hilarious sequences on the general attitudes of British people and the terrorist organisation 'The Axis of Evil' are particular highlights. Bill Bailey is a very talented man, and quite how he manages to think of all this stuff is a mystery to a less talented mere mortal like myself. He's been blessed with a face and demeanour that lend themselves to comedy brilliantly, and this may be the finest performance in the entire history of comedy. My throat was screaming for mercy by the end of the show...and that's exactly what you want from a stand up comedian. 'Part Troll' is majestic in every respect.
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The_manimator8 May 2005I'd never seen Bill Bailey do stand up before this so it was my first time seeing him perform but he is really funny, and has a random and broad sense of humour, which allows him to reach out to a wide audience, he gives off a very good vibe, he makes you laugh but also gets serious points across.
He is also a very talented musical individual. He doesn't swear a lot in this so its suitable to watch with younger children around although the level of comedy is rather intellectual. He knows whats he's talking about and is very knowledgeable about his topics.
So this really is a very good piece of work and a cant wait for him to take a bash at something else -
brianethomas200115 April 2006When i saw Bill Baileys Cosmic Jam i thought he was a good stand up, then i saw Bewilderness and decided that this man is good but a comedic genius. But Part Troll has confirmed he is a comedic genius who is quite underrated.
In Part Troll he takes his random technique of comedy hasn't change much from his past show but he does have different material.
His songs are still hilarious. The new English national anthem of "what a wonderful day" remixed was also genius and hilarious, as was the German 3 times a lady and the German "hokey cokey".
Bill Bailey is a genius and different at what he does. it is almost his downfall as he does get weird half way through all his shows but this is probably due to his many acid trips he explains in other dvds. But surprisingly for a modern day comedian he doesn't use strong language and isn't rude at all but he is still a mature comedian.
overall original and dirrent a must see. -
bob the moo2 April 2006It wasn't until Black Books that I actually bothered to give Bill Bailey the time of day. Up till then I had just taken him as an amusing man who perhaps overplays his unusual appearance. In his Bewildernness show I thought he had enough about him to be worth a look but that he had too many weak spots. Despite this I decided to give his recent show a look to see if things had gotten better and I was happy to see that they had indeed.
This show is a lot stronger than his earlier one because he has a broader range of material to work with, is still as inventive and generally has funnier material where previously he had tended to tail off during routines. Here he covers the type of material I would expect him to do (ie "look at me, I'm a little man with a beard"), politics, news and different types of musical interlude. The mix works because it took away the impression that he was very much clinging to his troll image as his sole way of drawing laughs. Instead I felt that he had material to work with and that, no matter what he was doing, he had an imaginative touch running through it all (which I don't feel he does when relying on his appearance). At times it is very silly but he keeps the audience there so even if I wasn't laughing, I was still engaged by the flights of fancy he went on and the imaginative ideas.
As a showman he is a bit limited but his material was strong enough to hold the audience. I still prefer other comedians simply because my own humour is more acerbic and sarcastic (form a queue ladies) but he did well enough to keep me amused if not exactly rolling in the aisles. The show itself is well put together and suited some of his bigger musical numbers but when he is just talking and walking around on stage it doesn't feel like he commands the room although in fairness the place felt too big for comedy to me.
Overall though this was a consistently amusing show and better than I expected from Bailey. Yes, he does still play his troll card quite heavily but the material has expanded into other areas to provide a bit of diversity and stops the show running out of steam in the way Bewilderness did. His presentation is a bit samey but the material is imaginative and engaging and provided quite a few laughs as well as a pretty constant smile. Fans will fall over to watch it of course, but there is enough here for Bailey to win new converts such as myself. -
owen-watts31 August 2020I last watched Part Troll on a rare pleasant evening in the year 2020 and it transported me back to a time of inexpressible peace and tranquility.
When Part Troll came out I was at college and Bill was the grand wizard of likable surrealism, he was strangely enormous among my teenage peers and many was the night we'd huddle around his two DVDs, drinking deeply and laughing until the dawn. Bill's stand-up has aged rather admirably actually, and Part Troll remains his absolute zenith, he's alive with glee at his own humble foolishness. There's also a slightly sharp political ranty vibe that's tempered with a deft intelligence that still resonates. His shrewd comedy songs and the glorious Kraftwerk parody are evergreen (the latter with his auld mate Martin Trenaman & the actor Kev Eldon in tow). It really is a plethora of comfort and delight.
He's the bloke in the pub who has an allotment and has no grand designs except for constructing a harp of his own invention. Harmless, rather admirable, and endlessly lovable. He's the unproblematic British chain that links my teenage years to my current ones and my sincere appreciation for him has deep, deep roots that will likely never fade.