The shock of the night is that Bill Bailey hasn't turned up. "You're looking bewildered," a hairy figure tells the crowd. "You're thinking, 'Why is there a roadie on stage?' " The tight-trousered loon informs us that he is actually Barry Evans, a Welsh Bill Bailey tribute act. As people hoot with laughter, "Evans" insists that the act hasn't even got going yet. This, at least, is true: Bailey gradually puts his foot harder on the comic gas, and doesn't let up all night.
As anyone who has seen Bailey in Channel 4's Black Books will know, this half-hairy, half-baldy prankster's looks alone can make an audience laugh. He describes his appearance as "1982, Stars in Their Eyes, Meatloaf, West Country heat runner-up." His opening jokes could only have come from that part of the country, itself a butt of punchlines. He demonstrates why pop music can never be written for a West Country accent, wonderfully wailing Madonna's Music (or rather, Moozaak).Then he is off on a bizarre historical tangent, revealing Tchaikovksy's secret life as a pub pianist.
It's not difficult to see Bailey's influences. The comic music reeks of Les Dawson, while a sketch about sexual awakening unconsciously echoes the Monty Python Nudge, Nudge sketch. But his real-ale, heavy-metal-weirdo persona is very much his own.
Although much of Bailey's act has been in his set for a while, he's constantly seeking out sources of comedy. Huge chunks are inspired by this week's relaxation of the cannabis laws ("I've always supported the 30-year campaign to, um what are we campaigning for? Oh, look, a squirrel..."). There's also slightly more dangerous stuff on the Taliban, and he exposes the fox-hunting lobby's hypocrisy. He often skirts around a subject, somehow stopping just short of provoking real thought. There's also a certain lads-around-the-TV undercurrent to his dafter humour. But then, minor doubts creep in only after you've stopped laughing.
"In the 1970s, I took part in a celebrity teleportation experiment sponsored by Taunton cider," he claims, feasibly. If a real-life Barry Evans is planning a tribute, he has his work cut out.
Bill Bailey is at the North Wales Theatre, Llandudno (01492 872000), tonight, then tours.
