Billy Connolly

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Nah. They're best mates. Sorry about the awful quality on this clip, but I've got fond memories of this when it went out. "It's nearly tuned, Mr Sting!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBBhbSW0q7M&list=RDbBBhbSW0q7M&start_radio=1&t=22

Ta for that. They may be mates, but you can still tell that Billy was annoyed about the aforementioned fella being paraded around by Sting on chat shows in the '80s. Billy is a groovy old hippie, that sort of thing doesn't sit comfortably with him (although, as I say, he didn't mind taking the piss out of his protruding lower lip situation: double standards).

[pigamus]

The other thing I remember from that interview is a lovely little story Billy tells about being at Sting's wedding, where the vicar says to him, "You'll need to watch your step, it's a bit worn away - people have been married here since the fourth century." And Sting struggles to hide his annoyance that he's even saying this - he's got a face like a massive slapped arse throughout - but of course because it's Billy he can say fuck all. And I'm thinking, "What's the problem? He's not telling the world what Trudie's like in bed, for fuck's sake."

Pompous twat.

[SteveDave]

I watched "An Audience With..." again recently and was still in pain from laughing at it all. Lamentably the extended version I've still got on VHS is nowhere online. There's an extra 30 minutes on it including (I think) the whole "I love swearing...you never read in a book "FUCK OFF!" he hinted" and a bit about getting old doors from around buildings that were about to be demolished. 

[DrGreggles]

I watched "An Audience With..." again recently and was still in pain from laughing at it all. Lamentably the extended version I've still got on VHS is nowhere online. There's an extra 30 minutes on it including (I think) the whole "I love swearing...you never read in a book "FUCK OFF!" he hinted" and a bit about getting old doors from around buildings that were about to be demolished.

Let me check which version I've got on my hard drive.
If it's the VHS version I'll upload it somewhere.

[SteveDave]

Let me check which version I've got on my hard drive.
If it's the VHS version I'll upload it somewhere.

A God amongst men.

[Two Headed Sex Beast]

Ah love beheading, it's extraordinary, ye must try it.

Thank you for the small and perfect observation of "ye must try it". I have an urge to watch all his "world tour of..." shows now, I suppose dailymotion might be my best chance of streaming them

[Jake Thingray]

I realise they were part of Play for Today but they're films based on plays, aren't they.

Watch this, and see how wrong you and marquis_de_sad are.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000ng9w

[Sebastian Cobb]

I watched "An Audience With..." again recently and was still in pain from laughing at it all. Lamentably the extended version I've still got on VHS is nowhere online. There's an extra 30 minutes on it including (I think) the whole "I love swearing...you never read in a book "FUCK OFF!" he hinted" and a bit about getting old doors from around buildings that were about to be demolished.

Pretty sure my mate used to have a dvd with a bit about some bloke carting one of the front doors back to his gaff to replace his front door, which he then put on his outside bog, taking the bog door back to where he found the good door and thieves kicking the bog door in because they thought it was a front door.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

A great routine, that's the one SteveDave is talking about. It's in the extended version.

[JesusAndYourBush]

As a child of about 7 or 8 years old we were doing some little school concert thingy where we all had to do a turn and I didn't know what to do, and my dad had just seen Billy interviewed in one of his many appearances on Parkinson where he'd done his Wellies song, and my dad taught me a couple of verses of it, and I sang it.  People must have wondered why I'd been allowed to watch Billy Connolly at that age when I hadn't, I'd learned it off my dad, and he omitted any of the too-rude bits.  One thing I was told at the time was that when Billy performed the song it was intercut with shots of kids with strings of snot dripping from their noses.  Billy performed the Wellies song on Parkinson on several occasions but I've never seen this particular performance.  Does it ring a bell with anyone, and is footage available anywhere?

[Replies From View]

Fairly sure I have two versions of 'An Audience With...' on DVD.  The first was ages ago, then I think they released an extended version more recently, which I also bought.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

That brilliant routine in which he talks about people stealing discarded front doors isn't in the original TV version. I think? And there's more swearing - "OH, FUCK OFF!!" - in the extended version, although it's not a sweary show by Billy's usual standards. What with it being filmed for TV and all.

He obviously knew that those bits would be cut out, which just adds to the mirth.