Posted by bluedog on January 8, 2003, at 10:44:51
In reply to Bluedog - re; Billy Connolly, posted by NikkiT2 on January 7, 2003, at 13:22:32
> I saw your post "way upi there" about you liking Billy Connolly.. I aodre this guy.. I've seen him live twice now and both times have come out in pain from laughing so much.. My fave live tape of his is "Billy and Albert".. I virtually know it off by heart.. theres this one sketch about the price of a caroet in LIberties ("For a F****N Carpet?" That I have to act every time I got to that store!!! You must try and find it!!
>
> Anyway, point of post.. I'm currently reading his autobiography.. its written by his wife (Pamela Stephenson, popular commedienne in the 80-'s in the UK.. now a trained psychologist) and is amazing.. the things this poor guy went through.. every kind of abuse there is, and then his drinking..
>
> Let me know if you can't get hold of it in the US (aren't you in Oz actually??!! Pamela Stephenson is a Kiwi born Australian! *l*)..
>
> Nikki xHI Nikki
Yes I'm in OZ and it's summer time here [I'm gloating....sorry :) :)] I just saw on the news about the cold snap in Europe.
I LOVE Billy Connolly. I don't have many true heroes but he is one of the privileged few. (Sean Connery would be another one of those very special people on my list) Funny how they are both Scots. Unfortunately I have never seen him live. He is a truly inspirational character though I don't know if he is as well known in the USA. He is also a wonderful actor....Did you see him in "Mrs Brown". A very powerful performance.
I also love his TV documentaries where he goes on tour in different countries. They recently showed his "World Tour of England, Ireland and Wales" on TV here. Did you see his "World Tour of Australia"? A lucky colleague of mine met him in the street just outside of our office. My colleague is a real hoot of a guy himself and he actually asked Billy Connolly to please wait while he raced inside to get a pen and paper to get his autograph. You know he's such a nice guy that he actually patiently waited where he stood until my colleague got back outside and was totally cool about it (I'm jealous but my colleague is also one of those special types that everyone likes. He just has that sort of effect on people including people like Billy Connolly). I also really loved his little documentary where he went camping at the North Pole. He always has to run around naked at the end of his documentaries but I noticed that it was a very "short" (pun intended) romp indeed up at the North Pole.
I've recently purchased his biography as well and have just started reading it. Pamela Stephenson being Australian is very well known here and used to be in "Not the Nine O'clock News". She appeared on TV here not so long ago in a show by another Aussie Geoffrey Robertson QC who does a show every now and then on TV called "Hypotheticals" Your in England aren't you Nikki so you would would probably remember "Not the Nine O'clock News" which also featured Rowan Atkinson , Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones? I LOVED this series. I don't know if it was ever shown in any other countries but we get a lot of UK TV shows here in Australia. Australians probably understand UK comedy better than US style comedy.
Does Billy Connolly's biography have the same photo on the cover in the UK as it does in Australia with him lying on his back with his funny socks and making that childish rude sign with his hands?
Billy Connolly is one of those very few very special people that can swear his head off (and he does) and even your grandmother won't be offended and will still love him.
I have a friend who recently immigrated to Australia from the UK a few years back who is also a big fan(My friend is a welder so I think he relates to Billy Connolly on another level again because Billy Connolly was also a welder before he became a full time performer) I must ask him if he has a copy of the record you mentioned :) :).
I think anyone on this board would feel inspired by reading his biography!!!!
My warmest regards Nikki
bluedog
poster:bluedog
thread:34762
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20030104/msgs/34824.html