London gets cold this time of year: the darkness falls fast and there is an extra bite to the wind. You begin to notice these things far more when you are stood outside a venue, that you can’t get into, waiting for your mate who has the tickets and is running late because she has “short legs”!

It may seem like I’m moaning but in truth I was actually buzzing: nothing – cough ‘legal’ cough – can change your mood faster than stand-up comedy. And tonight I would have the opportunity to right a serious wrong and solve the conundrum that my short-legged pal had yelled at me earlier that day: “seriously, how have you never seen Bill Bailey live?!?”

Bill Bailey is well known for his roles in iconic TV shows like Buzzcocks and Black Books, and for screen-stealing cameos in Hustle, Skins and Hot Fuzz. But as much as these performances are excellent his greatest skills are often reserved for his stand-up shows, where his incredible musical talents can come screaming to the fore. I was very much looking forward to this, and we could now get out of the cold and head into the, rather glamorous, Theatre Royal Haymarket.

Having found the bar and grabbed a much-needed double gin it was time to head to our seats. The show was sold out, and as the stragglers rushed to find their places the sound of Metallica’s Enter Sandman began to fill the speakers, the lights fell and our clown for the evening took to the stage…

The problem with building up an act in the way that I just have is that it sets a ridiculously high bar for our clown to meet, fortunately for me, Bill Bailey was in Sergei Bubka form!

There is a universal appeal to our clown’s comedy, which makes sense when you consider the broad nature of his audience. He relies on playful whimsy for his material, often veering off into the world of fantasy or West Country stereotypes to deliver his punchlines. The tales are often tall and the material far more intelligent that our clown would like it to appear.

But as much as the comedy is good, it is the musical interludes where our clown truly excels. His ability to wander about the stage picking up a range of instruments, from a bouzouki saw to a Zimbabwean thumb piano, and managing to make each one rock is amazing. His minor-key rendition of Happy Birthday To You with a Berlin cabaret twist is pure genius, and I can’t say enough about his laser harp disco essay on Pachelbel’s Canon – or the ode to Kraftwerk that preceded it. And I know that it was only used as a punchline but if Bill Bailey has actually written his LOTR/Blur Mashup Orclife. I would genuinely love to hear it.

At times the second half of the show feels more like a concert than a stand-up gig, and when you consider the talent in the band that our clown has assembled for this run (Fiddle player Matt Holburn, Drew McConnell from Babyshambles on bass and Owen Hopkin of The Crimea on drums), it could honestly have turned into one.

It’s rare for a comedian to perform a two-hour set but with all of the energy in the second half, time flies. The extended runtime allows our clown to experiment and play with sections that, even when they don’t quite work, are still enjoyably funny.

This is the first tour that Bill Bailey has done since cutting off his trademark locks. Whilst this does mean that he no longer looks like Tim Minchin’s West Country cousin, they will forever be connected at the top of the musical comedy mountain thanks to their immense talent and continued innovation.

Clown Stars: * * * * *

@Theatre Royal Haymarket, London

Bill Bailey will be performing Thoughtifier at Theatre Royal Haymarket until Feb 15th – Tickets are available here – trh.co.uk/bill-bailey-thoughtifier