If he makes it to the stage, Bailey will perform a brand new show, Thoughtifier - a word he made up himself.
“It’s thought and amplifier, which is really what comedy is in a way, that’s the essence of stand-up.
“You take the everyday things that happen in our lives and extrapolate the comedy out of it into routines.”
The onset of artificial intelligence (AI) also features heavily.
Using AI software, he created a “Bill Bailey chatbot helper”.
“It’s quite a disturbing thing, especially when you’re trialling it in front of audiences. People either stare at it in bemusement or laugh hysterically.
“As a performer, AI poses a direct threat to the world of entertainment so it’s the right time to talk about it, incorporate it, make fun of it, but also show what it can do and what its limitations are.”
Bailey’s film and television work includes Never Mind the Buzzcocks, QI, In the Long Run and Black Books.
He also hosted the first season of New Zealand comedy panel show Patriot Brains, won BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing and released the book Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide to Happiness.
Getting a whole new show together had been “quite full on”, especially when working with new bits of technology, Bailey said.
“I‘ve done a few warm-up shows in the UK and audiences seem to be genuinely amazed at what this thing [AI] is capable of, but how you can use it to interpret my comedy.
“It’s a way of personalising something that’s a little bit impersonal. That‘s what this show is all about.”
Bailey said he had to convince companies making the AI that it was actually him using it.
“They said ‘You can’t use this face because he’s in the public eye’. I would say ‘No, it’s me, it’s me. I don’t mind me using it’. There were all kinds of strange conversations.”
However, an AI Bill Bailey tour isn’t on the horizon.
“God, that would be good, wouldn’t it? I can just sit at home with my feet up.”
Bailey planned on visiting Bushy Park Tarapuruhi during his last visit but ran out of time.
He said New Zealand had an extraordinarily unique range of wildlife and he was always amazed by its exotic quality.
“I hope I can this time, absolutely. It will definitely be me - the human version.
“Being human is what I’m talking about [in the show] - what makes us unique. Consciousness and human interaction.
“It’s only when you don’t have them that you realise how much they mean to us.”
Audience participation was encouraged at his shows, Bailey said.
There was sometimes a misapprehension that people had to sit quietly and not get involved.
When he asked people questions it wasn’t in a combative way - “it’s just having a chat”.
“A lot of people feel compelled to shout out and then I look at their partner and the partner is horrified - ‘You‘re never like this, you never shout things out’,” Bailey said.
“It’s almost like ‘Who are you? Who is this person that I’m with?’ I would rather the shows have that quality to them though, so people don’t feel inhibited.”
Bill Baily performs at the Royal Whanganui Opera House on November 14.
Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.
