News reports may give the impression that Billy Connolly is in the twilight of his life. But watching Billy Connolly: My Absolute Pleasure (ITV) reveals him to be living out his days in balmy sunshine, and having rather a nice time of it. The comedian now resides in the Florida Keys, and this programme was partly a guided tour, partly a look back at some of his stage performances from down the years. It was a successful combination.
The surprising thing was how gentle Connolly now seems. Whether that’s a mellowing with age, with Parkinson’s disease or simply the expat lifestyle, who can say. “This is a good place. There’s a lot of old hippies live here and people who refuse to be old, and it’s lovely,” he said, stopping off to buy watermelon juice at his local farmers’ market. We saw him kayaking through the mangroves with wife Pamela Stephenson, toasting marshmallows on the beach with his daughter Scarlett, and walking his little dog. Is this the dream retirement?
Footage of Connolly in his prime was sprinkled throughout the programme. “Some old comedy stuff that means a lot to me,” he explained, adding that he’d selected jokes of which he was particularly proud. There were gags about sex, kids and prostate examinations, and a particularly funny one involving Liam Neeson and a cat. There was, of course, a clip of Connolly appearing on Michael Parkinson’s show. It was a reminder that he was a master when it came to delivering a joke.
In recent interviews, Connolly has replied to questions about “cancel culture” and said some of his material wouldn’t see the light of day in today’s climate. But, unlike other comedians of his vintage (John Cleese, in other words), he doesn’t spend his time railing about it to the exclusion of all else. Instead, he used this programme to explain his comedy in the simplest terms.
“Humour is a great gift. Nobody knows where it’s from. You can say words in a certain order and people fall about holding their stomachs,” he said. “I’ve never questioned what makes things funny. They’re funny and that’s it.”
Connolly only addressed his health at the very end of the programme. He can no longer play the banjo or smoke cigars, and the condition has robbed him of the ability to perform on stage. “Parkinson’s disease has taken a lot from me,” he conceded. “As it goes along, it’s taking more and more of what I like, and it’s kind of painful.” But he’s making the best of it.
