Bill Bailey

Last night the boy and i went to see bill bailey and it was by far the best comedy show i have been to bar none. more like an epic 2 hour variety night, is there anything this man can't do? he came out in wonderful fashion, introducing himself and then running onto the stage in a furore. i dont really want to say too much because if you ever see him live and he does some of the same jokes it'll be less funny, let's just say that when referring to possible prime minister brown he played james brown, he serenaded us with his oud, introduced us to the tenori-on. i really really want one, and once i have one i will finally create my band and we will tour the world playing tenori-on, keytar, drum pad, ukelele and synth. basically it is an amazing LED pad thing that you simply touch anywhere on the screen and the little lights light up and play a really beautiful song. last night as bill bailey demonstrated, it is an amazing instrument where "you can turn something horrible, into something beautiful" and he proceeded to map out a swastika on the light grid, and it made a really beautiful song. hence the wanting of one. he also got a guy out of the audience to come up and just poke his fingers at it, and it was stunning.
highlights of the show, bill bailey's french pop cover of gary numan's cars, complete with hideously produced film clip featuring bill bailey getting in an out of an old car and driving it around the country side, crazy daft punk esque lighting effects and car horn solo play frantically by the musical genius himself. bill bailey's rap song. after breaking down the meaning of lyrics in popular songs, such as you're classics golden brown for instance, which is said to be about heroin, but which bailey says could just as easily be about the plight of the red squirrel, he moved on to the nonsensical and misogynistic lyrics of pop songs such as akon's lyrics "jump up in my lambourghini galardo" which only hobbit's would have to "jump up" into as they are so low, which is followed by the lyric "perhaps you can bend over" big fat question mark as to what is going on in that song. Bill Bailey then comes out after the interval and puts on some phat beats which he raps too as only bill bailey can, finishing the song with "I'm the dali farmer". classic.
his short film complete with live accompaniment.
his final poem "when you left me, i was alone"... Like clown fish without nemo, like twilight without em. and until you come back, i'm like whitney without crack."
what heartfelt prose.
i won't say too much more because he does have some more shows coming up around town and if you're going i don't want to give you a full run down of jokes and songs because that would spoil the experience.
in other news, uni started back today, woo, i had a cinema screening in kaleide [spelling?] for asian cinema, and as lisa french, australian cinema extraordinaire, is programming the course this year we started off with 4 short films all made in australia either by asian australian's or simply by australian filmmakers relating around asian subjects. i had such high hopes for this course, learning about a different kind of national cinema. the lectures are all by someone different every week so hopefully it won't be too focused on the australian perspective of australian culture and looking out from here, because that's not what i wanted to study. disappointed i wont have the lovely peter kemp for my final year but he is taking one lecture so at least that is something.
at the festival office again today. i ahve filled up my pass and bought more tickets as well, so far i'm seeing:
the myth of the american sleep over
the illusionist
world on a wire
air doll
rubber
chicks (life at the ranch)
symbol
the trotsky
scott pilgirm vs the world
blank city
and the late program at nova screening "too much pussy" and "L. A. Zombie" back to back from 11pm
it is shaping up to be a good festival.