Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5690 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-11-14
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 100 minutes

Synopsis
His legendary 1985 performance in front of a celebrity audience for the London Weekend Television show.

Customer Reviews

One Of The Greatest Comedians To Grace The Laughter Stage
It's hard to believe the routes of Billy Connolly when you compare them to his immense success as a stand up comedian. Sure, we have success stories every day. There are musicians, movie stars and even politicians that come from poor backgrounds and develop into successful personalities; but non are as unique as Connolly. Starting out as a welder in his home city of Glasgow, Scotland, nobody would have expected that this man would end up as a household name 30 years down the line. The question has to be asked. Why do we all love Billy Connolly? He's incoherent, blasphemous, foul mouthed and just a down right unpleasant guy upon first glance. But then we got to know him.

During the course of Billy's stand up work, he swears a lot and talks about subjects that were at one time very shocking to discuss on stage. Although to some he may still offend, the reason we love and appreciate Billy is because he says what we're all thinking. He points out the ridiculous nature of life and the things we do as a result of our current situations. He has the ability to make everything funny and, whether he swears or not, he manages to come across as a massively charming and likeable person.

This DVD sees Billy being put in front of an Audience of celebrities to perform his stand up brilliance whilst also involving himself with the audience. During many of his shows, like this one, he can be seen regularly laughing at his own gags which can understandably be a bit off-putting to a comedy audience. After all, nobody wants to go and see a comedian laugh at his own jokes. However, it's different with Billy as they're not necessarily jokes with a punch line where he winds up wetting himself with laughter. His jokes are stories of experiences he has had and gives his perspective on those moments he finds funny; it just so happens that the way he tells it is deliciously hysterical.

There are times that I find myself sincerely not being able to get enough of the comedy of Billy Connolly and for a man that's been on the stand up scene for over 30 years; it's something very special indeed. This is a delightful performance that depicts Connolly at his absolute prime literally in the beginning stages of what has now become a very diverse career. Now an actor, writer, musician and documentary maker, this is a delightful DVD to have in your collection to remind you of when the man started out and why he is still as popular today as he's always been.

Some of the material may be dated as, let's face it, this was filmed in 1985, but there is also a lot of material that is as relevant now as it was back then. One of my favourite gags from this particular performance is his perspective on incontinence pants, but as Billy says, it's not to laugh at incontinent people, but to laugh at incontinence pants.

Very Poor Quality VHS Transfer
This is of course a brilliant show but this dvd is a transfer from a badly damaged vhs copy. In fact my tape which is nearly twenty years old looks much better than this. I advise you wait until they release a restored version.

Billy Connolly at his Best
An Audience With Billy Connolly was filmed live at the Albert Hall in 1985 for London Weekend Television. The audience is a veritable who's who of Britain - the camera moves over the audience on many occasions and each time a recognisable face is visible.

The show only runs for 50 minutes and is extremely funny from start to finish. In fact, it is almost a disappointment to reach the end as all you want to do is start over. Billy Connolly has the ability to leave you gasping for breath with sore sides and tears in your eyes from the laughter. Even thought it's 20 years old all his material is relevant even today making it stand the test of time. His skit about funny ads in the local paper including 'big slippers' and the whole 'incontinence pants' is pure comedic genius! Buy this DVD !