DESPITE 20 years travelling the world and perfecting his craft, it seems nothing could prepare comedian Bill Bailey for a Valentine's Day in Llandudno.

The first night of Bill Bailey's Larks in Transit Tour kicked off with the bearded surrealist playing a few brief licks on his air guitar before declaring dryly "Wednesday...Llandudno...it doesn't get much better than this."

To Llandudno's credit, from that moment onwards, the comedian enjoyed plenty of banter with a game crowd, at one point even commending his audience for the calibre of their heckles.

However, things quickly degenerated for the veteran comedian, who seemed genuinely surprised by the passion Welsh crowds had for his admirable pronunciation of the double L sound in Llandudno, leading to a hilarious bit where he covered up in a makeshift shawl and simply listed Welsh train stations to howling laughter from the seats.

Shortly after musing that "This was one of the more unusual shows I've ever played", the venue unexpectedly suffered a technical fault to the lights which led to the stage being left largely in darkness for about 20 minutes.

To both the performer and Venue Cymru's credit, the audience was treated to an impromptu, improvised section where the lightning quick comedian got some of the biggest laughs of the night, at one point dismantling part of the stage to trot out a hilarious Gandalf impression before lighting was restored to an eruption of cheers. Bailey extended the show by 20 minutes past the scheduled end time too, so if anything, the extra material was a Valentine's day treat for the audience.

Lighting issues aside, Bailey's routine was on point, hammering home why he was standing in front of a gleeful, sold out crowd after 20 years.

As a first time experience of the comedian live, the comedian didn't disappoint.

Only Bailey could have a crowd crippled in laughter by purposefully executing a basic joke the wrong way, or making Shakespeare's inaccessible humour hilarious for an entire room of people.

Of course, the comedian made full use of a piano, guitar, mandolin, theremin, wood block, cowbells, kick drum for his musical segments, with a steel drum resembling a barbecue for truly bizarre "rim shot" cues being a particular highlight.

At the outset of Larks in Transit, Bailey committed himself to using comedy to heal all wounds, and while he drew laughs on everything from Brexit to Brits abroad and failed Hollywood dreams, in turning lighting issues into laughs, the comedian more than proved his point.

Bill Bailey's Larks In Transit will return to the stage in Venue Cymru tonight at 8pm. For more information visit venuecymru.co.uk or call the box office on 01492 87200.