THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER80TH BIRTHDAY EDITION - NOW WITH 10 NEW TALL TALES!'Connolly's
raucous run through his life is as furious funny and foul-mouthed as you'd expect' Sunday
TimesIn December 2018 after fifty years of belly-laughs energy and outrage Billy Connolly
announced his retirement from live stand-up comedy. It had been an extraordinary career.When he
first started out in the late sixties Billy played the banjo in the folk clubs of Scotland.
Between songs he would improvise a bit telling anecdotes from the Clyde shipyard where he'd
worked. In the process he made all kinds of discoveries about what audiences found funny from
his own brilliant mimes to the power of speaking irreverently about politics or explicitly
about sex. He began to understand the craft of great storytelling. Soon the songs became
shorter and the monologues longer and Billy quickly became recognised as one of the most
exciting comedians of his generation.Billy's routines always felt spontaneous. He never wrote
scripts always creating his comedy freshly on stage in the presence of a live audience. A
brilliant comic story might be subsequently discarded adapted or embellished. A quick
observation or short anecdote one night could become a twenty-minute segment by the next night
of a tour.Billy always brought a beautiful sense of the absurd to his shows as he riffed on his
family hecklers swimming in the North Sea or naked bungee jumping. But his comedy can be
laced with anger too. He hates pretentiousness and calls out hypocrisy wherever he sees it. His
insights about the human condition have shocked many people while his unique talent and
startling appearance on stage gave him license to say anything he damn well pleased about sex
politics or religion. Billy got away with it because he has always had the popular touch. His
comedy spans generations and different social tribes in a way that few others have ever
managed.Tall Tales and Wee Stories brings together the very best of Billy's storytelling for
the first time and includes his most famous routines including The Last Supper Jojoba Shampoo
Incontinence Pants and Shouting at Wildebeest. With an introduction and original illustrations
by Billy throughout it is an inspirational energetic and riotously funny read and a fitting
celebration of our greatest ever comedian.
