BILL BAILEY The Lowry, Salford MASTER of the surreal Bill Bailey still cannot decide if the world is facing the ‘moral decline’ that doom-mongers are shouting about.

But the West Country comic certainly has qualms with our cultural malaise of celebrity obsession and instant-gratification.

Celebrities are now omnipresent thanks to the power of social media and Bill reckons some of their ‘stupid’ is rubbing off on us.

His pet hate is the rise of acronyms like ‘lol’. Politicians were also in the firing line.

Bill’s unflattering animal-themed depictions of David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Milliband and risqué remarks about recent Catholic Church scandals had the Lowry audience in stitches.

He also had a bone to pick with austerity packages. Budget shark dives anyone?

The show then moved into more familiar territory as Bill, an accomplished musician, described how sick he is of insipid pop music.

His solution was some hilarious remixes of theme tunes like Downton Abbey and Match of the Day.

The joy of watching Bill Bailey is how bizarre and random but fiercely intelligent his observations are.

The absurdity of his act even got the better of him as he had to recompose himself several times during the performance...but that only got more laughs from his loyal following.

DAVID MORGAN