Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to British Birds

Product Information

British Comedy Award winner, Bill Bailey has enjoyed success on the live stage for many years. In 2001 he took his show Bewilderness to New York for an eight-week run. In 2004 he performed his show Part Troll at over fifty venues around the UK.

At a point in our evolution when it seems as if we’re sleepwalking into a world where humans might be redundant, and much of what we do can be done better and more efficiently by machines, what better time to celebrate our own flawed humanity. And who better a guide to lead us than Bill… To take us on a jaunt through the error-strewn, distracted, crumb-festooned, sometimes magnificent history of human thought and how it might help us survive in this brave new world. A magical, musical mystery tourof the human mind, along with some other pressing matters about whales, biophilia, unrequited love and other thoughts. Amplified With Music.Most people know Bill Bailey for his amazing performances where he expertly mixes comedy and music with a large dollop of zaniness, or his appearances on various panel games. What most people don’t know is that he loves all things about the natural world and is a massive fan of birds in particular. For this book, he has taken 51 of his favourite birds, from the generally unloved pigeons and herring gulls to the tiny wrens, deadly peregrines and the cheeky corvid family. Each of the mini-chapters on birds has facts and details of where to find them or in the case of the bittern, where you can go and look and generally fail to see them. Dylan Moran has stated in a recent article that there will not be, although he alludes vaguely to thepossibility of transferring it to the stage. When herons are spooked they have a habit of vomiting as a defence. Half-digested pieces of eel and water vole skull on your head is not a good look. Just so you know.’

Bailey takes us on a journey around the British Isles, zooming in on those birds that enthuse him the most. Whether it's what they eat, where they fly to or how they communicate, these birds are always fascinating, and he introduces us to their weird and wonderful ways in a manner that is always entertaining. This is a beginners guide more than anything else, Bill recommends starting bird-watching by try to find a pigeon, so if you know anybody showing an interest in birds then this will be a great gift for them. My youngest daughter is going to read this next and I think she’ll enjoy it mainly because of the interesting gruesome facts included, a bit like the horrible histories books. It’s called a theremin and has been most famously used in 1950s science-fiction films such as The Day the Earth Stood Still. Bill is one of the few modern representatives of the instrument, and has presented a Radio 4 show called “Good Vibrations: The Story of the Theremin”, and written an article on the subject for the Guardian. ja pildid! igast linnust on foto ka olemas, nii et on võimalik teda selle järgi enamvähem määrata - aga Bailey on ise ka joonistanud neid. nii linde kui muid olulisi tegelasi (Henry VIII, rebased, tema ise mitmes interpretatsioonis), tihti juures ka asjakohased jutumullid, ja nojah, see kõik on küll juba koomikule täitsa kohane. ühesõnaga, need pildid täiendavad juttu hästi.

Customer reviews

Bill was delighted to return to the live stage at the end of 2021 with a brand-new live show En Route To Normal. Described by The Evening Standard as “ a sublime celebration of silliness ★★★★”, Bill rounded off his summer with a limited run of very special performances of En Route To Normal at London’s prestigious Royal Opera House.