Bill Bailey: Part Troll

COMEDY

James Smart

PLEASANCE COURTYARD (VENUE 33)

BILL BAILEY must be absolutely sick of people saying he looks like a roadie. Unfortunately for Bill, the resemblance gets closer every year. His hair - too long to be a mop, too short for a hippie - has now receded to the point where it seems glued to the back of his bare crown.

It’s hard, of course, to be in the business of making people laugh and be unaware of your own physical shortcoming, and Bailey is nothing if not forthright, bouncing straight into a gag about impersonating Michael Bolton on Stars In Their Eyes in 1982. It was a regional heat. He came third.

If the contest had been about comedy as well as karaoke, Bailey would have won it hands down. This evening, he does a deadly accurate U2 pastiche, slips subliminal messages into a lounge piano set and mimics Slayer with an enthusiasm that seems motivated by affection as much as scorn.

Such embarrassing tastes shouldn’t be too surprising. Bailey is more geek than bully: while laddish stand-ups may be happy to celebrate the essentially obvious (that men and women are a bit different and people from different parts of the country like to mock each other) he plays the Theremin, discusses Heisenberg and cracks jokes about jokes that are, crucially, funny.

With such talent, it’s hard to see how Bailey can go wrong. But he sometimes seems too polished, too prepared. One routine sees him discuss English attitudes and England’s one-time empire without ever mentioning the (surely rather topical, considering he’s in Edinburgh) issue of Scotland’s involvement in imperialism. It’s hardly the end of the world, but one might expect a man as bright as Bailey to at least tailor his material to his location, to negotiate issues rather than running through what feels like a well-rehearsed routine he didn’t feel like updating.

It’s emblematic of Bailey’s performance: professional, charming and funny, but rather lacking in spark and spontaneity. When he’s good, discussing Diet Pepsi-sponsored bombs or mixing George W Bush and drum & bass, Bill is brilliant. But on his first night at least, Bailey impressed but did not astound.

•7:10pm, today. Until 25 August (not 5 or 12)