Bill Bailey was raised in Keynsham, Bristol. He became an Associate of the London College of Music whilst still at school, and managed to complete a year of an English and Drama degree in London.

He got his first taste of Edinburgh in a college production of Under Milk Wood and after dropping out, played the piano in a wine bar.

He did a stint with Corin and Vanessa Redgrave and Frances De La Tour in the WRP company's The Printers and went on to appear in a group called "The Rubber Bishops". His eclectic mix of tunes and gags really kicked off in 1995 when his live show Bill Bailey's Cosmic Jam won the Edinburgh Festival Critics Award.

In 2001 he won Best Live Stand-Up at the British Comedy Awards.

He broke into TV and since his own series Is It Bill Bailey? on BBC2, has co-starred in Dylan Moran's sitcom Black Books as the downtrodden Manny Bianco. He made an appearance in the comedy Wild West starring Dawn French and written by Men Behaving Badly creator Simon Nye. He also filmed The Stick Up for Mermaid Films.

Bill regularly appears as team captain on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, and toured in 2004 with the show 'Part Troll'.