Billy Connolly

Sir William Connolly, CBE (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish stand-up comedian, musician, presenter, actor, and artist. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname "The Big Yin" ("The Big One", a reference to his 6' height).

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An Audience With Billy Connolly - 1985

Don't vote, it just encourages them.
I know at least... oh my God, at least 127 words. And I still prefer "Fuck".
Chic Murray once told me he fell in the street, and a woman said to him, "Did you fall?" He said, "No, I'm tryin' to break a bar of chocolate in my back pocket."
Toblerones! It's impossible to eat a fucking Toblerone without hurting yourself!
Look at this way: if we all ate one person, the problem would be halved over-night. Think about it: I could eat someone you don't like, you could eat someone I don't like... where's the fucking damage?
I used to be a folk singer, but I was... dreadful. I had a voice like a goose farting in the fog.
Apparently, women need to feel loved to have sex, and men need to have sex to feel loved, so the basic act of continuing the species requires a lie from one of you.
There is no such thing as bad language: it's just our morals that are fucked.
I leave you with a complaint. Now, the country is in a terrible state, and you've blamed it on a number of things: Unemployment rate, the value of the pound and all that... well, it's because the national anthem is boring.
Politically correct is the language of cowardice.
The religion in Scotland is one of the most patronising things... after the weather.
(To audience members who were arriving late) You haven't missed a thing, I was just killing time 'til you got here.
The working classes, the ones they refer to in those political programmes as "the ordinary people"
You've made a happy man very old.

Billy Connolly at the Royal Albert Hall, 1987

That man (Ronald Reagan, who was President of the USA at the time), he sits at that desk in the White House, and the button is there that can end the world: BOOM! My father's younger than him and we don't give him the controls for the television!

Whoopi Goldberg presents Billy Connolly, 1990

I came here on Concorde today... and I arrived before I fucking left!
People die all the time. It's just that you're not around.

Billy Connolly: Live 2002 (2002)

Aromatherapy bollox!

Billy Connolly: "Too Old To Die Young" Live in New York, 2005

Recently, I turned 60... and even more recently, I turned 62. That was a bastard, I don't even remember the 61.

I'm a huge filmstar... but you have to hurry to the movies, because I usually die in the first fifteen fucking minutes. I'm the only guy I know who died in a fucking Muppet movie.

Life is a waste of time. Time is a waste of life. Get wasted all the time and you'll have the time of your life.

My advice to you, if you want to lose a bit of weight: don't eat anything that comes in a bucket. Buckets are the kitchen utensils of the farmyard.

Billy Connolly Live: Was It Something I Said?, 2007

I was always confused with what was near-sight and what was far-sight. Now I'm not confused at all: I've got both, I don't give a fuck which is which.
No children were abused in the making of this show. No one was hurt and no Islamic cartoons were used. You know, for those of you that can't take a fucking joke.
There's nothing better than a fight, especially when you're watching it from a safe place. You can yell encouragement! Hit him with the left, he's a big Jessie!
Apparently the only way to avoid a sudden agonising death, is to walk around in tights with a bottle of vinegar. I'd rather be fucking dead!
"I stood on a stone fish once." "Oh yeah, how was it?" "Worst fucking pain known to man." "Have you known a lot of pain?" "Aye, I fell off my bike once."
Christians shouldn't be allowed near rock and roll. It's not for them! It's not fucking for them! They should all join the Brothers of the Beige or some fucking thing - "The Beige Sisters of Premenstrual Agony." The fucking...! You see them - Christian rock! Is there such a fucking absurdity in the world? [makes screeching noises imitating a metal guitar, then speaks quietly] "He is my saviour!" That's not rock and roll! That's Youth Club Table Tennis fucking crap! Rock and roll is [shrieking] "I AM THE DEVIL AND I WANNA FUCK YOUR MOTHER!"
Religion is over, lads, it's fucking over. Take your reformation, your Vatican, your fucking Mecca and fuck off. Suicide fucking bombing, there's a bright idea! Every time there's a bang, the world's a wanker short! Fucking idiots! I want to see the instructor: "Right, lads, I'm only going to show you this once..." Fucking pricks! And it depends on what newspaper you read, how many virgins you get for blowing yourself up. How are you gonna shag them when you're now flying mince?!
53 fucking virgins! [laughs] The very thought of 53 fucking virgins, it's a nightmare! It's not a fucking present, it's not a prize - it's a punishment! Give me two fire-breathing whores any day of the week! I'm a slut man!
Your parents choosing your fucking marriage partner - don't be ridiculous! Fucking stupid! "That's her over there, son." "Which one? They're all the fucking same, dad! Black with a wee fucking window!"
[stamps his foot, which knocks his drink over] Oh fuck, I did this last night as well!
Who the fuck are you? Get out of my house...and take that fucking bulldozer with you.
My wife said "I want to sell the house and buy a yacht". I said "What?! You do realise I live here? Comedian, Scottish guy. There's 3 kids over there, each have their own rooms. C'mon, I'll show you, they live here too."
[to the front of audience] What was I talking about? Can you remember, eh? What? [to audience at the back] Shut the fuck up, I'm talking to someone! [to front again] Button your cardigan, I can see your cleavage.
You said, "If you're ever in Los Angeles we must have dinner"- well, he's here. That's not an invitation! Translated, it means: "You're a boring piece of shit, I'm off, I've had enough of you!"
[Singing] "Oh, the big fire engine goes ding-a-ling-a-ling." No, it fucking doesn't. It used to.
We all know that at 5 in the morning the lanes behind hotels are full of children, especially wee blind ones who can't see fucking trucks coming.
Poos himself on stage, classic Billy
It's pish!

Book Sources

I hate all those weathermen, too, who tell you that rain is bad weather. There's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing, so get yourself a sexy raincoat and live a little.
- Billy Connolly
Scotland has the only football team in the world that does a lap of disgrace.
- Billy Connolly by Nigel Huddleston, published June 2004.
Don't buy one of those baby intercoms. Babies pretend to be dead. They're bastards, and they do it on purpose.
- Billy Connolly by Nigel Huddleston, published June 2004.

Other

For years I thought the club's name was Partick Thistle Nil.
I think age is terribly overrated. You're okay as long as you don't grow up. By all means grow old, but don't mature. Remain childlike, retain wonder, the ability to be flabbergasted by something.
Life is supposed to be fun. It's not a job or occupation. We're here only once and we should have a bit of a laugh.
My definition of an intellectual is someone who can listen to the William Tell Overture without thinking of the Lone Ranger.
Never trust anybody with only one book.
The desire to be a politician should bar you for life from ever being one.
The great thing about Glasgow is that if there's a nuclear attack it'll look exactly the same afterwards.
There are two seasons in Scotland: June and Winter.
When people say "it's always the last place you look". Of course it is. Why would you keep looking after you've found it?

External links

Encyclopedic article on Billy Connolly on Wikipedia
Media related to Billy Connolly on Wikimedia Commons
Official website
The Guardian interview with Billy Connolly