Bill Baileys Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra

[aclivity]

Did anyone see this on Saturday night? I stumbled upon it, but was glad that I had, if only for the 2 and half minutes of sublime comedy that was the "Cockey William Tell Overture". His position was that the trombone was the most cockney of the orchestra instruments, and demonstrated it using the William Tell Overture.

It's on the iPlayer - start at 23:50 for the trombone section http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00kj2r2

Slightly more cerebral comedy than you often find on the TV on a Saturday night!

[dienamic]

Thought the cow bells were excellent!

[mdotd]

Saw this on the iplayer this morning; v good!!

[MartG]

Watched it last night - excellent programme

[Eric Mc]

The wife thought it was awful. I loved it. A very clever chap is Mr Bailey.

[Simpo Two]

Perhaps the closest thing we have to Victor Borge, but more diluted.

[Nobody You Know]

dienamic said:

Thought the cow bells were excellent!

More Cow Bell!!!

(One for SNL viewers)

[The Hypno-Toad]

Nobody You Know said:

dienamic said:

Thought the cow bells were excellent!

More Cow Bell!!!

(One for SNL viewers)

Don't Fear The Reaper baby, come on!

I saw this and thought it was excellent as well. The cockney version of "The William Tell Overture" was especially good. The only thing that spoiled it was the awful "Insect Nation" stuff at the end where you could see the audience going "WTF??".

And wasn't the conductor a grumpy looking lady?

[AdeTuono]

The Hypno-Toad said:

And wasn't the conductor a grumpy looking lady?

Anne Dudley from Art of Noise. She must have had a sense of humour at some point (Paranomia/Dragnet etc etc.)

[oobster]

The Hypno-Toad said:

I saw this and thought it was excellent as well. The cockney version of "The William Tell Overture" was especially good. The only thing that spoiled it was the awful "Insect Nation" stuff at the end where you could see the audience going "WTF??".

I thought the program was good too, same as you though - the Insect Nation stuff was a bit duff.

[Landlord]

I thought it was good but a little dull, unfortunately. I love Bill Bailey usually and whilst the Cockney William Tell was great I ended up switching off with ~ 15 minutes to go. Perhaps I should give it another go on iPlayer?

[mdotd]

The Hypno-Toad said:

The only thing that spoiled it was the awful "Insect Nation" stuff at the end where you could see the audience going "WTF??".

Insect nation is one of Bill's old sketches/songs from his early standup; it was amongst the first things he did that got him noticed for the big time.

That said it did seem a little out of place in the programme...

[zac510]

I watched it and kind of enjoyed it but spent most of the time going 'oh please shut up and let the instruments talk'.. Especially after he's spend a few minutes expounding the great sounds of some instrument, only to sing (poorly) over the top and fail to let it show why it is a great instrument.
For example the section at the start where they took 'layers' away from the orchestra and demonstrated their sound and effect. Somehow he managed to resist talking through it and it was by far the best 'guide to the orchestra'.

He's a great host and comedian, and I enjoyed the cheeky way he introduced us to orchetra, but needed less chat!