Billy Connolly Page 3

I don't remember ever laughing at Connolly. Wasn't Jasper Carrott supposed to be in a similar vein? I used to like him when I was a kid.

Quote: Griff @ January 11 2011, 1:51 PM GMT

I watched the Not The Nine O'Clock News documentary recently and she came out of it quite well.

All the blokes from it hated her, I seem to recall from a documentary on it. Especially Mel Smith.

Quote: Griff @ January 11 2011, 1:57 PM GMT

Well there can't have been more than one documentary, we must have seen the same one, but that's not the message I took from it. My recollection was that they all blamed Rowan for quitting the show to further his own career. Oh and Chris Langham got quite a bashing too. (Not related to the scandal).

I think I got the Mel Smith bit from a recent interview he gave, whilst she was on the dancing thing, in which he made it very clear indeed that he hates her.

All I remember of Pam's contribution to Not The Nine O'Clock News was when someone bought a train ticket (I think) and she pulled open her blouse and offered "Do you want to rub my tits too?".... I probably let out a teen age low growl then...

Apparently she thought it would be funnier if she kept her bra on. The woman clearly has no idea...

Quote: Griff @ January 11 2011, 1:57 PM GMT

Well there can't have been more than one documentary, we must have seen the same one, but that's not the message I took from it. My recollection was that they all blamed Rowan for quitting the show to further his own career. Oh and Chris Langham got quite a bashing too. (Not related to the scandal).

That's what I recall too, Lord Griff. They blamed Langham for being a drunk and a nutcase.

I like Billy Connolly - not seen loads of his material, but always laugh heartily at it. As does my mother. And she knows about these things.

Quote: Timbo @ January 11 2011, 1:47 PM GMT

Oh yes, she was very funny. Nice tits too.

She was the love interest in a massively underrated (it bombed hugely) Australian film called Les Patterson Saves the World. Barry Humphries has said his sex scenes with her were initially very graphic but subsequently cut to appease the film's producers or distributors, and these cuts have since been lost.

Quote: sidecar jon @ January 11 2011, 8:10 PM GMT

All I remember of Pam's contribution to Not The Nine O'Clock News was when someone bought a train ticket (I think) and she pulled open her blouse and offered "Do you want to rub my tits too?"...

Not buying a train ticket, but paying for a 'Hurtz' rent-a-car. The train ticket gag came at the end, when the posh geezer discovers that his American Express card won't buy him a public transport fare. The same ad was the highlight of the 1980 Not! the Nine O'Clock News book, which is quite fun, being like a mix of Viz (not many comics though), Goodies books and the silly bits of Private Eye.

Meandering weakly back on topic, I used to think that Billy Connolly played the "nine-bladed sword" false prophet in The Life of Brian because of the character's Glaswegian accent. But it's Charles McKeown.

Quote: john lucas 101 @ November 1 2010, 1:45 PM GMT

I always preferred Jasper Carrott amongst those comics arising from the folk club scene.

All this talk of B.C. and J.C. makes them sound ancient.

I did like Billy Connolly but he has had his day by the 1980s. He's good for nostalgia though. However, some here might liken him to myalgia!

Quote: Kenneth @ January 11 2011, 10:34 AM GMT

They are indeed. I've been able to get first editions from the charity shops.

I've never seen The Moon's a Balloon in a charity shop, and I've been looking for it for some time.

I could always buy it new, but it's one of those books I want to buy from a charity shop or boot sale. I don't know why, I just enjoy finding a book I really want after browsing through numerous copies of Billy.

I remember the very first NTNOCN show/series from around 1979: Chris Langham appeared in a quick (filmed) shot as he was about to 'tuck in' to a nude woman dressed up with exotic vegetables, on a platter (complete with suckling apple in her mouth). The main difference from today's TV was the fact she was facing belly-down, not fully exposed.

Another very early sketch (poss Autumn '79) featured a surrealistic scenario from the viewpoint within an oversized mouth: a bit like the BEEZER comic's 'Numskulls'. This item never really worked, and I'm not sure if this material is still available for viewing or not.

Quote: Galoot aka IrishAl @ January 12 2011, 11:47 AM GMT

All this talk of B.C. and J.C. makes them sound ancient.

I did like Billy Connolly but he has had his day by the 1980's. He's good for nostalgia though. However, some here might liken him to myalgia!

Connolly himself in the 80's remarked that nostalgia is not about what actually happened in the "good old days" but the way we remember the past invariably deletes all the bad stuff while exaggerating the positives. He summed up his own career back then as; " I lie for a living! ".

He still remains unique in my book, as there has been nobody yet to compare his individual style with. Jasper Carrot I like, but to compare him with BC is a bit like comparing Gordon Ramsey with Sir Alex Ferguson. Two different people doing completely different things.

Quote: Allan OB @ February 4 2012, 12:13 PM GMT

but to compare him with BC is a bit like comparing Gordon Ramsey with Sir Alex Ferguson. Two different people doing completely different things.

They both played for Glasgow Rangers.

Quote: don rushmore @ November 2 2010, 6:54 PM GMT

Fair point.

If Hoskins is laughing, at least we know he's not putting it on - he's not that good an actor.

Laughing out loud

Come on then, let's continue Old Rocker's question from the locked thread.

Why is Billy ending shows early because of hecklers?

Quote: Stewart Nicol @ January 11 2011, 8:49 AM GMT

Well Aaron, if you'd used the tickets, you'd understand why Billy's still number 1. I've studied his material until I know it back to front and, amazingly, I still found him hilarious. www.billyconnearly.com

Also underlines that you're a sycophant (/copycat) to the man, thus hardly a balanced commentator.

Quote: Godot Taxis @ February 4 2012, 12:37 PM GMT

Come on then, let's continue Old Rocker's question from the locked thread.

Why is Billy ending shows early because of hecklers?

Because too many people have been licking his arse hole for too long, he's got a jumped up and inflated opinion of himself, and has lost touch with the realities of being a working comic, believing himself to be some sort of God who no one would or should dare to consider heckling, disturbing, or otherwise upsetting in any way.

Quote: Aaron @ February 4 2012, 1:28 PM GMT

Because too many people have been licking his arse hole for too long, he's got a jumped up and inflated opinion of himself, and has lost touch with the realities of being a working comic, believing himself to be some sort of God who no one would or should dare to consider heckling, disturbing, or otherwise upsetting in any way.

Somewhat like Stephen Fry and Morrissey.