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Billy Connolly


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1 hour ago, throbber said:

I found your post pretty confusing. Both you and Hearthammer come across as being bitter towards BC because of how he changed as a result of his fame, the company he kept after becoming famous and the fact he got a knighthood. His comedy journey started closer to home with tales of working on the Govan shipyards etc and he got popular and branched out to a wider audience and adjusted his material to suit. That’s the showbizz lifestyle I’m afraid.

Should have been content with the hat going round in Govan pubs, then he wouldn't have had to pretend to be in yon fancy London set. Should have known his place, shagging Janey Godley instead of Pamela Stephenson, would have been much happier,

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One of Billy Connolly's things has always been that he fits in to whatever social circle he happens to find himself in at the time. Quite why anyone would think that he'd suddenly become a great class warrior and turn down a knighthood, I'm not sure. He doesn't strike me as the type who'd think much about politics in general TBH. Better that than making up a half-arsed opinion and banging on about it like some celebrities do.

Shir Sean, of course, accepted his gong despite being a republican, claiming he considered it to be recognition from the people of Scotland. Bullshit, or not?

Will any P&Bers be sending back their letter from the Queen when it inevitably comes?

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He was very funny for a remarkably long period of time. By the time he got to the 'I know you' period mentioned earlier, the circles he moved in were obviously smaller and his material suffered as a result, but he still made it worth a listen. I was still happy enough to sit through his High Horse DVD, despite it being easily his weakest. We maybe put too much emphasis on what people become, rather than what they were - it's the same for musicians, everyone like a laugh at how bands like the Rolling Stones haven't written a decent tune in decades, but the guys who wrote all the songs you love are now receiving the rewards for what they did back then. That's the way we should probably think about it, rather than castigating them for being shit now.
Something that came up earlier: comedians are all liars. Barely any of the stories they tell happened to them, or even happened at all. It's fiction. You wouldn't criticize, say, Irvine Welsh because Trainspotting wasn't an accurate memoir, or Tom Hanks because he didn't actually contract HIV. We have a really odd mentality when it comes to comics - it's a performance like any other. Just relax and enjoy the show. So long as they aren't plagiarising other people, it doesn't matter where the stories come from.
Oh, his travel shows were good too. The later ones were naturally weaker as his familiarity with the places wasn't as strong, but World Tour of Scotland is a terrific love letter to his old home. A lot of younger folk might not be familiar with his albums either, which is a shame as they're very good. Well, except A Change Is As Good As Arrest, but you can't win them all.
I would say it's harder for a comedian to have a long career than a band or musician. E.g. if you have a back catalogue like The Rolling Stones, your audience would riot if you didn't play the greatest hits, a comedian has to constantly keep changing their act. As funny as stuff like The Crucifixion is, Connolly could't have just kept trotting it out year after year.

The full unabridged version of An Audience with Billy Connolly was his peak for me, prescription windscreens, incontinence pants, and the Archers theme for national anthem all among the material.

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22 minutes ago, peasy23 said:

I would say it's harder for a comedian to have a long career than a band or musician. E.g. if you have a back catalogue like The Rolling Stones, your audience would riot if you didn't play the greatest hits, a comedian has to constantly keep changing their act. As funny as stuff like The Crucifixion is, Connolly could't have just kept trotting it out year after year.
 

A lot of stand ups, especially older ones, still use the same material from years previous. Jerry Seinfeld still uses material from the 80s when he does a stand up show and believes a lot of the audience are there to see his "classics". I guess there was a time when folk would buy albums of comedians and going to see the comic live was the same as seeing the band live. If something they've done previously is still getting laughs they keep it in and just add new stuff bit by bit.

The whole stand up thing of writing a new set every year to debut at Edinburgh or Montreal or Melbourne is a relatively new phenomenon. I'd hazard a guess it's more to do with stand ups getting more time on TV and one hour specials being aired and the like.

Connolly might be the bit inbetween as he claims to have never written an act but just goes out and keeps the parts that work each show and tweak them each night. The show at the end of the tour will be different from the show at the start of the tour. Whereas the show at the start of his next tour would be similar to the show than ended his most recent one.

Edited by AsimButtHitsASix
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Thing that pisses me off is when comedians do a tour to develop their act for Edinburgh, and you still have to pay full price to watch an early rehearsal. 

Edited by welshbairn
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Used to work in a pub in Walthamstow and stand up comic Susan Murray used to host a comedy night there a lot and a lot of the London based stand ups would use it as a place to test their Edinburgh material in the Spring. Got free tickets in exchange for handing out flyers and saw some great shows. Shappi Korasandi turning up already half cut and dingying her set to have a rant about her ex instead was a highlight.

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Thing that pisses me off is when comedians do a tour to develop their act for Edinburgh, and you still have to pay full price to watch an early rehearsal. 
Went to one of these and paid £7.50 for 2 comedians. f**k paying full price!
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6 minutes ago, 19QOS19 said:
15 minutes ago, welshbairn said:
Thing that pisses me off is when comedians do a tour to develop their act for Edinburgh, and you still have to pay full price to watch an early rehearsal. 

Went to one of these and paid £7.50 for 2 comedians. f**k paying full price!

I'm thinking of the big boy chisellers who've already been on the telly. You usually get a few local talent as warm ups, the money should go to them.

Edited by welshbairn
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5 hours ago, invergowrie arab said:

Imagine a multi millionaire choosing to spend his time in London and LA and not the Laurieston. One of history's greatest monsters IMO.

You won't get a choice of three delicious Fyne Ales on tap in either London or LA though, so GIRUH. 

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The idea of variety in comedy appears to be a relatively modern thing. I remember hearing (probably on a documentary about Connolly) that stand-ups used to have the same act they'd play out over a whole career, as audiences wanted the comfort of knowing what was coming. The Fast Show had the Arthur Atkinson character, who was meant to be a parody of old music hall acts who just repeated stock catchphrases, with the comedy supposedly coming from the fact that the audience knew that this person constantly said the same things. Very meta, considering that's a good description of The Fast Show. John Cleese says Monty Python started because they were all sick of sitcoms that consisted of nothing but characters walking in and delivering their line that they'd always repeat every week. Sounds like it used to be a much easier gig TBH.

I know he's done with the stand-up for health reasons, but it would be interesting to see Billy Connolly performing his classic routines now. I'm not sure they'd work as well delivered by the elder Connolly.

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1 hour ago, Tutankhamen said:

If only he didn't swear so much..........

I remember my mum saying this back when I first discovered his stuff.

She loves a bit of Frankie Boyle these days. Go figure.

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