It was appropriate that Bill Bailey headlined last night's cannily titled Orangaid benefit to save the Sumatran Orangutan. From certain angles there is something simian about the whimsical musical clown: the high forehead, the beard, the quizzical expression. Definitely a sublime comedian, as he confirmed with a whirlwind set, and possibly half-ape, half-Klingon.

Things took time to take off, despite compère Phill Jupitus's best endeavours. The scandalously spiteful Simon Amstell hesitantly workshopped some taste-free tsunami gags and promising existentialist riffs, while the usually excellent Sean Lock was hit-and-miss. Only Kevin Eldon, in the guise of earnest poet Paul "Hey! let's share some verse" Hamilton really made a powerful impact in the first half.

Whatever the promoters popped into the interval drinks backstage, it did the trick. Geordie intellectual Dave Johns swiftly came up trumps with a unique combination of daft gags about being in Starlight Express ("I wasn't a train, I was the replacement bus service") and unexpected references to Wittgenstein.

But this show belonged to Bailey. Five years ago Eddie Izzard was the ultimate hip, all-conquering comedian. With Izzard now distracted by an acting career, Bailey is effortlessly taking his place. Where others had tried new jokes, he ruthlessly plundered his back catalogue to deliver a near-perfect half-hour retrospective.

Everything from his jazzfunk EastEnders theme to his Kraftwerk-do-the-hokey-cokey homage raised the roof.

I'm not sure how many apes the gig saved, but it confirmed that Bailey is not monkeying around when it comes to world domination.