Billy Connolly: Live – The Greatest Hits

A compendium of the legendary Scottish stand-up’s finest live moments, Billy Connolly’s Greatest Hits takes us on an odyssey of ridiculous facial hair and fart gags that spans almost 25 years. We start in 1975 with the Big Yin sporting his famous outsize banana boots and follow our man as he matures from an endearing gag merchant into a skilful observational master. Connolly’s appeal has always been that of the engaging bloke down the pub: you don’t so much laugh along with the material as get caught up in the hysteria as tangents follow tangents and the plot is lost in a fit of giggles. Almost uniquely in the dark days of the mid 70s, Connolly always had a sense of decorum in his stage act, even when his material was predominantly about swearing, shagging and “jobbies”. He was never hateful or motivated by prejudice, preferring instead to cast a bemused child’s eye upon the stupidity of the world. The highlights are gentle if occasionally crude: Billy’s guide to “more fulfilling masturbation”, thoughts on plastic surgery and the evil of Toblerone. Billy even muses about ageing which is interesting as this video proves he’s been a gloriously overgrown teenager all along