Billy Connolly, Oct. 20, Halifax, Nova Scotia

[tvordlj]

I don't think I've ever been to see a comedian perform before. Or have i? Actually, now I think of it, i did go to a comedy show once where there were 4 or 5 performing, a Just for Laughs kind of thing. Last night I went to see Billy Connolly at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium at Dalhousie University here in Halifax.

Billy has long been one of my favourite comedians.I think he first came to my notice in the very early 1990s when he was in the American sitcom, Head of the Class. I can't remember if I was aware of him before that but that definitely started my interest. Over the years, I've seen him in movies, both dramas and comedies, on talk shows, and in lots of video. He always cracks me up. He's a great storyteller though you have to pay attention. He starts one story then gets off on a tangent because it reminds him of something else and then something else before he gets back to finish the original one. He's caustic, sarcastic, irreverent (as all comedians should be), he rants and pokes fun and he seems to enjoy his own jokes, chuckling as he's trying to tell the stories even though he's told them countless times before. He swears most of what he talks about on stage is true, possibly exaggerated now and then, but true.

Needless to say, I was excited to see him last night. He's been on tour and several of my friends in Ontario saw him a few days ago and said he was very good. My friend, S. and I got tickets a few months ago and I'd almost forgotten when the gig was. She called me last week thinking it was the end of last week and thought we'd missed it or nearly missed it. Thankfully, the tickets were for last night! I had thought they were for November some time so I wasn't even thinking it was this soon. Phew!

We arranged to meet at a restaurant not too far from the university for 5:45. She got stuck in traffic. Bad traffic. She ended up parking at the bus terminal and catching a bus which turned out to be the best way of getting there but she was still an hour late. I ordered and was on my dessert by the time she arrived but there was still plenty of time for her to order and eat and we walked up to the Arts Centre, getting there just in time to get seated. She had snagged us awesome seats, right in the front row.

My friends last week had taken a few photos during the show, though they were further back in the venue where they saw him. I wanted to take a couple of pictures but, being in the front row, I thought it would be too distracting but what I did do was take some just as he came on stage while everyone was applauding. They weren't the best but at least I have that as my souvenir of the night! I put the camera away then, and sat back to enjoy the show and enjoy it we did!

Now. Billy Connolly was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in recent years. It's evident he's not as robust as he used to be and is a lot less animated. In older video from shows you see him darting back and forth across the stage, animated, more physical in his gestures. Last night he stayed pretty much in one place, though moved around a little. He was far less animated and his voice less strong that it was in the past though not frail or weak. He does seem to have lost a bit of the fire he used to have but then, between his illness and age and the rigours of a tour, I'm sure it all contributes to taking it out of him. He's still got it as far as telling his stories and jokes go, though.

Some of them I've heard before but most of them were new to me. BBC 4 radio, an armourer that supplies weapons to movie sets tangling with the owner of a cat he's just killed, performing folk music in a hospice, an encounter with a homeless man in Toronto, buying a cigar in Aberdeen amongst autograph seekers, sneezing without closing your eyes while driving, sexy bandages and a dodgey flight in Mozambique were some of the stories he told. It's impossible to retell the jokes since most of them would involve the whole story leading up to them.

One of the things he likes to do is take a walk around a city where he's performing. I thought he walked right by me on Monday afternoon as i was waiting for the bus. A man walked by, he was wearing a knitted cap and he had those little round eyeglasses that Billy wears, with the shoulder length white hair. I am trying to recall if that man had the little beard and tache but I can't picture him now. I just remember that he looked quite a bit like Billy Connolly and it very well might have been, judging from the height and size of him when I saw him last night on stage. I didn't say anything to the man that walked by me. For one thing, there were other people around and if it was him, he'd be surrounded. I just think that if a well known person is out on their own, or with their friends, you want to let them be. They must get annoyed at being interrupted all the time by fans, though I'm sure they appreciate that they do have fans. I think mostly they tend to be graceful and accommodating but I think most of the time I'd leave them be and just watch them from afar. I suppose it would depend on the situation or how badly I might want to meet them!

Comments

[kissmeforlonger.livejournal.com]

I do love him - and what an amazing guy. He was first on TV in the UK in the mid-70s and a very charismatic, charming figure he was.