Line #7 Creator/BillyConnolly


1	[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/billy_connolly_6966.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:340:Surprisingly, he isn't Creator/JohnCleese...]]
3	->''"I've always been fascinated by the difference between the jokes you can tell your friends but you can't tell to an audience. There's a fine line you have to tread because you don't know who is out there in the auditorium. A lot of people are too easily offended."''
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5	Sir William "Billy" Connolly (born November 24, 1942 in Glasgow), is a Scottish folk musician, actor and [[RecordedAndStandUpComedy stand-up comedian]]. Commonly known as "The Big Yin", he has a large fanbase and was voted Number One on Creator/{{Channel Four}}'s One Hundred Greatest Stand-Ups in both 2007 and 2010. He's married to Creator/PamelaStephenson (who was a cast member on ''Series/NotTheNineOClockNews'' and ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' in the 1980s. Stephenson is now working in psychology) who he first met while he was making a guest appearance on ''Series/NotTheNineOClockNews''.
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7	Connolly was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2013, which led to his retirement from performing comedy in 2018. He is now an artist.
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9	He was [[FanNickname nicknamed]] "The Big Yin" (Glaswegian slang for "The Big One") - he stood over 6 feet tall in his prime - though rarely heard today.
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11	!!Selected Filmography:
12	* ''Film/{{Absolution}}''
13	* ''Film/{{Bullshot}}''
14	* ''Film/TheBoondockSaints''
15	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}''
16	* ''Series/{{Columbo}}'', episode "[[Recap/ColumboS10E13 Murder With Too Many Notes]]"
17	* ''Film/TheHobbitTheBattleOfTheFiveArmies''
18	* ''Film/TheLastSamurai''
19	* ''WesternAnimation/LavenderCastle'' (first series only)
20	* ''Film/MrsBrown'' -- which established his credentials as an accomplished dramatic actor
21	* Small cameo as himself in ''Film/IndecentProposal''
22	* ''Film/MuppetTreasureIsland''
23	* ''WesternAnimation/OpenSeason''
24	* ''Film/WhatWeDidOnOurHoliday ''
25	* ''Film/StillCrazy''
26	* ''Film/TheXFilesIWantToBelieve''
27	* ''Film/JustAnotherSaturday''
28	* ''Film/{{Fido}}''
29	* ''Film/{{Water 1985}}''
30	* ''Film/{{Paws}}''
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32	----
33	!!Tropes Associated with "The Big Yin"'s Work:
34	* BitsOfMeKeepPassingOut: A gag about drinking, and "zombie" cocktails that he tried which "get you drunk from the feet up", remaining lucid until you try to move:
35	--> ''"So I said to her, and she said to me-- back in a minute."'' [Tries to walk and falls over].
36	* {{Blooper}}: His ''World Tour Of Scotland'' TV show kept them in, including a scene where he stalled his car and started rolling down a hill into traffic... with a driving instructor in the car directly behind his.
37	* CensorshipBySpelling: "D-I-V-O-R-C-E", a parody of the song by Tammy Wynette, which was a number one hit in the UK.
38	* ChronicallyKilledActor: Jokes that most of his recent roles have involved him dying in some way. According to his biography, he's quite proud of being the only person ever to die onscreen in a Muppet movie.
39	-->'''Billy:''' I even died in a ''Muppet'' movie!
40	* CityShoutOuts: He sent this up in a sketch about a cheesy Country and Western singer who walks on stage and begins:
41	--> Hey, y'all, it's really great to be with all you lovely people and to be back here in... back here in... back here in... ''(turns to the wings)'' hey, Hank! Where the fuck are we tonight? I know it's Scotland or somewhere...
42	* ClusterFBomb: Billy's quite at home with swearing. He has turned swearing into an art form. However, fans who know him only through his 1970s and early 1980s recordings are often taken aback, due to the fact Connolly either toned down his language, or it was censored, on his early record releases.
43	--> ''People say it's a limited vocabulary that makes you swear. Well, I don't think so. I know at least--oh my God, of 127 words. And I still prefer [[PrecisionFStrike 'fuck.']]''
44	* CutawayGag: his long anecdotes are strewn with those. Connolly's story about the mystery man found dying in a street in Edinburgh - he turned out to be an illegal immigrant who fell out of the wheel-well of an aircraft - takes up to half an hour to tell with LOTS of digressions and cutaways. [[note]]Onboard airline toilets and how they work; the social snobbery of well-heeled Edinburgh compared to Glasgow; dating a nurse; the glorious nitrogen cycle ref. what happens after a plane empties its onboard toilet...[[/note]] And as for his re-telling of the Gospel as if Jesus had come to [[ViolentGlaswegian Glasgow]] rather than Galillee...
45	* TheDanza: He has two Reverse-Danzas to this name - as Billy [=MacGregor=] in the US TV sitcom ''Series/HeadOfTheClass'' (he replaced Howard Hesseman for its final season) and its post-mortem spin-off ''Billy'', and as Billy Bones in ''Film/MuppetTreasureIsland''.
46	* EverythingTryingToKillYou: He's not the only comic to portray Australian wildlife this way, but probably one of the most memorable.
47	* FaceDeathWithDignity: Facing his death from Parkinson's Disease, he remains astoundingly optimistic, saying he looks forward to seeing what lies beyond death and in the meantime is taking a scientific interest in the way his body functions are breaking down.
48	* HangoverSensitivity: His song "As Usual" is essentially this trope set to music.
49	--> "I woke up with an aching head, as usual / I can't remember going to bed, as usual / My stomach's feeling very queer / I've got a thunderstorm in my left ear / It must have been [=McEwan=]'s beer / As usual"...
50	* TheHeckler: Connolly ''hates'' hecklers. He went to town on a heckler at one of his recorded gigs:
51	-->'''Billy:''' I'm the man up here with the microphone, Jimmy. You are the one that's got to shout yourself hoarse. Nae contest. In fact, the only reason why I'm talkin' to ye now is so as the bouncers can get a fix on ye. [[BondOneLiner You've only got one line left before you're oot on your arse, so you'd best make it a guid one!]]
52	* NakedPeopleAreFunny: Dances naked in the snow in ''A Scot In The Arctic'', setting a precedent for his other travel shows.
53	* PlayingAgainstType: Perhaps most notably when he was cast as Il Duce in ''Film/TheBoondockSaints.''
54	* ToiletHumor: Claims to have had a bad experience in Ibiza once. [[FromBadToWorse Along with his wife.]]
55	* ViolentGlaswegian: {{Subverted\|Trope}} in a sketch on ''Series/NotTheNineOClockNews'' where he barges into a dingy looking pub and in a gruff accent asks for a list of tough sounding men. When he's told that none of them are there, he orders a "campari and soda" in a camp accent.
56	* WildlifeCommentarySpoof: [[https://youtu.be/QilRAJV8d74?t=1m51s Starring]] Agnes and Betty the lionesses, and [[CaptainOblivious some none-too-bright wildebeests]].

Context Creator / BillyConnolly