‘I just wish my mum could see it’: Bill Bailey on making his Proms debut

Musician and comedian Bill Bailey has said he wished his mother could see him make his BBC Proms debut on the event’s last night.

The 60-year-old will perform Leroy Anderson’s The Typewriter at Saturday’s Last Night Of The Proms at London’s Royal Albert Hall, where he will play the historic piece of office equipment as a musical instrument.

Bailey told the PA news agency: “I just wish my mum was around for her to see it, I think that would be just a wonderful moment to see those early times when she inspired me to listen to music, and then there I am at the Proms.

“I think that would be a wonderful full circle, but my dad is still around, my dad, bless him, he’s 93, he’s coming to the show, so I’m looking forward to that.”

The Bath-born star regularly incorporates music into his comedy performances and previously recorded BBC special Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide To The Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall, having been inspired by his mother to listen to records and learn instruments from an early age.

She said her love of music and its ability to “transport us to somewhere else” left a “very deep impression on me”.

He told PA: “I’ve been watching the Proms now for, wow, for many, many years. and I remember the last night is – was – always a bit of a ritual in our house, we’d all watch it together, and I’ve been lucky enough to go to a few proms over the years.

“And there’s a really quite a unique atmosphere, I think, unlike anything else I’ve ever been to, because it feels like this is more about what music should be.

“I think it’s very inclusive, it’s got a feeling that it’s for everyone, people kind of make almost like a pilgrimage to it, you see people sitting outside wanting to get in.

“There’s a sense of celebration, of fun, of like this is a sort of British institution really, and it feels like quite an honour to be part of it.”

Bailey will be joined by Sir Brian May, Roger Taylor and rising West End star Sam Oladeinde at the Proms’ final night, with the trio marking the 50th anniversary of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.

The comedian added: “It’s very exciting, and I realised yesterday it was all very real.

“Suddenly, when I went to Maida Vale studios to rehearse with the orchestra, and I suddenly realised, ‘oh yes, this is happening’, because up to now it’s been sort of this abstract thing, which has been just something in the future, oh yes, I’m doing the Proms.

“And then, suddenly, I’m in the Maida Vale studios with a full orchestra with the typewriter, and this is it, you know, got to get it right.

“So, I’m a little bit nervous, but also very excited, and I had a fantastic rehearsal yesterday with the orchestra, so that’s given me a great deal of confidence.”

Live coverage of the Last Night Of The Proms will begin on Saturday at 7pm on BBC Radio 3, while the TV broadcast will be live on BBC iPlayer and in two parts, part one on BBC Two from 6.55pm, and the finale on BBC One at 9pm.