An Interview with Bill Bailey (series 1)

The man at the sharp end of most of Bernard Black’s vicious jibes is Manny, played by fellow comedian Bill Bailey. Manny begins the series hating his job as an accountant, but soon becomes Bernard’s assistant after helping him out with his tax returns. "Manny is just one of those people. Things happen to him despite his well-meaning intentions. He is a naif, an innocent, in complete contrast to Bernard."

Bill loved shooting the series, enjoying the break from his day job. "It was great fun because when I do stand up I have no one to play off. Dylan and I became excellent foils to each other. I love the dialogue we have together. Dylan is evil to Manny and Manny is just more and more obliging and it gets more and more funny. Basically, Manny hated his job so much that he is willing to work for Bernard and be abused. It’s quite painful to laugh at him sometimes."

Bill came aboard when he was asked to take part in the Channel 4 Sitcom Festival at the Riverside Studios. "Basically they wanted an ensemble of actors to be in every sitcom on stage, but when I read Dylan’s that was the only one I wanted to be in. They said okay. We did five nights and I really enjoyed doing it. It was like being in a mini-play. I loved the rehearsals especially, being able to spark ideas off someone." Graham then joined Dylan to write the first series and Bill saw that the initial potential of the piece was more than realised. "Everything that goes on is based on something that could vaguely happen," he says. "In this way it is heightened reality rather than strictly surreal stuff. It isn’t about floating bananas. It is rooted in plausibility. I love the central situation, which is of attrition, of two people trying to make the best of things. The relationship between Bernard and Manny is classic. Bernard comes to rely on him more and more as time goes by, and I don’t think he likes it."

Manny begins the series extremely stressed. "He needs an instant hit of relaxation, so he buys The Little Book of Calm from Bernard. Then he swallows it and becomes very chilled out. It’s hilarious, the perfect comment on those people who have to fill every second of their lives up with things. It’s a bit of a dig at those people who think they can get instant help from those stupid books."

Bill loves his stand up but is keen to continue the acting as well. "I couldn’t do it if it wasn’t good, though," he says. "Stand up is a process of constant editing and re-editing. You are improving all the time. If a script wasn’t funny from the off like this one was I’d find it frustrating just to mouth words, without being able to make it better. The only things that changed in rehearsal of Black Books were minor. We just found slightly better ways of translating the comedy from the scripts to the drama."

Another bonus for Bill was the setting for the sitcom. "I love bookshops," he says. "I spend hours in them. The books on the set were real — bought from a second hand auction or something - and we had great fun going through them when we had a mo. I remember one was called The Big Book of Swamps. Fabulous read. Another was by the former darts champion, John Lowe. It was full of hilarious diagrams on how and how not to hold a dart. They all looked the same. As if there’s anything more to it than chucking it at the highest score!"

Manny

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