The best heckle Bill Bailey’s ever received
BLACK Books star Bill Bailey was performing in front of 10,000 when an audience member yelled out something that left the crowd, and Bailey, in stitches.
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BILL Bailey has revealed the best heckle he’s ever received.
The English comedian, who is touring around Australia for the next three months, told news.com.au he’ll never forget what an audience member yelled out during a particular gig in Ireland.
“I was doing this orchestra show and I was describing the notion of film soundtracks,” the former Black Books star said.
“The orchestra were playing the music from Titanic [My Heart Will Go On]. I was talking and I was slightly making fun of the whole thing. We were in the O2 Arena in Dublin with 10,000 people and you could hear a pin drop.
“I was saying, ‘This is how a soundtrack can create an atmosphere ...’ and then a bloke in the back of the room just shouted out, ‘ICEBERG, RIGHT AHEAD!’ and the whole place just cracked up, me included.”
Bill Bailey has been performing stand-up for more than 20 years and is considered one of the funniest acts in British comedy ever.
And in the thousands of gigs he’s performed, there’s only a handful of jokes he regrets telling.
“The thing is, you can make jokes about pretty much anything and it will probably offend someone and you can’t think like that,” he said.
“I remember I used to do a song which was called Hats off to the Zebras and it was a spoof of a Bryan Adams song and it was supposed to be a racial harmony song.
“It was basically making fun of racial harmony songs, that’s all it was.
“But I didn’t realise the evening I was performing at was an evening of racial harmony. It was like I’d just stuck two fingers up to the whole point of the evening, it was disastrous.”
The 52-year-old expects his Larks In Transit tour will go much smoother than that gig did.
“This show is a compendium of tales from 20 years as a travelling comedian,” he explained about his upcoming tour.
“There’s a lot of music in it, some stories, a sprinkling of politics ... I might mention Brexit (laughs), that might creep in at some stage.
“There’s a lot of interaction with the audience too. I always like a bit of banter with the crowd but in this show there’s a bit of technology that allows me to sample audiences and incorporate their singing into an actual piece of music.
“It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time and the technology hasn’t been around to do it but now I’ve got hold of it.”
BILL BAILEY’S LARKS IN TRANSIT TOUR DATES ARE LISTED BELOW:
Darwin: Entertainment Centre — Sunday 30 October
Book at box office 8980 3333 www.yourcentre.com.au
Cairns — Convention Centre — Tuesday 1 November
Book at ticketlink 1300 855 835 www.ticketlink.com.au
Townsville — Entertainment Centre — Thursday 3 November
Book at tecc box office 4771 4000 www.tecc.net.au
Gold Coast — Jupiters Theatre — Saturday 5 November
Book at ticketek 132 849 www.ticketek.com.au
Adelaide — AEC Theatre — Monday 7 November
Book at ticketek 132 849 www.ticketek.com.au
Launceston — Princess Theatre — Friday 11 November
Book at box office 6323 3666 www.theatrenorth.com.au
Hobart — Wrest Point Entertainment Centre — Saturday 12 November
Book at Wrest Point service centre 1300 795 257 www.tixtas.com.au
Geelong — Costa Hall — Monday 14 November
Book at GPAC box office 5225 1200 www.gpac.org.au
Melbourne — Hamer hall — Wednesday 16 November
Book at Arts Centre box office 1300 182 183 www.artscentremelbourne.com.au or Ticketmaster 136 100 www.ticketmaster.com.au
Brisbane — QPAC Concert Hall — Tuesday 22 November
Book at QPAC 136 246 www.qpac.com.au
Perth — Riverside Theatre — Sunday 27 November
Book at ticketek 132 849 www.ticketek.com.au
Sydney — State Theatre — Wednesday 30 November
Book at Ticketmaster 136 100 www.ticketmaster.com.au
Newcastle — Entertainment Centre — Monday 5 December
Book at ticketek 132 849 www.ticketek.com.au
Wollongong — Town hall — Wednesday 7 December
Book at IPAC box office 4224 5999 www.merrigong.com.au
Canberra — Royal Theatre — Thursday 8 December
Book at ticketek 132 849 www.ticketek.com.au
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