Billy Connolly - Live In New York (DVD)

Billy Connolly Live in New York .
" Too Old To Die Young " 2005 Tour
Certificate 15 Running time 1 hour 32 minutes
Produced by Universal , filmed at the Town Hall New York
Format DVD

THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE SHOW FEATURED ON THE DVD ONLY , AND NOT THE EXTRAS

" After three decades of touring the USA this is Billy Connolly's first concert filmed in America in February 2005 "
...day , ten minutes with Billy is guaranteed to have me rolling around , helpless with laughter , whether I choose the classic " Billy and Albert " , " The Pick of Billy Connolly " , " Billy Bites Yer Bum " or one of the newer world tour compilations .

It's the blend of quirky thoughts , alternative views on life , harshly funny childhood memories and strange but hilarious songs that makes the trademark ... more

Billy Connolly Live in New York .
" Too Old To Die Young " 2005 Tour
Certificate 15 Running time 1 hour 32 minutes
Produced by Universal , filmed at the Town Hall New York
Format DVD

THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE SHOW FEATURED ON THE DVD ONLY , AND NOT THE EXTRAS

" After three decades of touring the USA this is Billy Connolly's first concert filmed in America in February 2005 "

I received this DVD as a Christmas gift from my daughter after much hinting and hoping , and sure enough there it was , under the Christmas tree , wrapped and ready to go .
Despite my impatience I deliberately didn't watch it on that day as we were so busy , and I wanted to set aside some time when I could sit uninterrupted and just enjoy Billy's unique style of philosophy based humour .

I have every video and DVD that he has ever released , and if I ever have a " down " day , ten minutes with Billy is guaranteed to have me rolling around , helpless with laughter , whether I choose the classic " Billy and Albert " , " The Pick of Billy Connolly " , " Billy Bites Yer Bum " or one of the newer world tour compilations .

It's the blend of quirky thoughts , alternative views on life , harshly funny childhood memories and strange but hilarious songs that makes the trademark " Billy " session what it is .
For example , his loud , gritty and passionate ( though completely sick and warped ) rendition of " Tell Laura I Love Her " which had both me and my daughter Laura in tears of laughter for so long that we had to rewind the tape by fifteen minutes to see the bits we had missed through sheer helplessness .
This is the song I swear I am insisting on having played at my funeral just to see if she can keep a straight face for more than the first thirty seconds , although I doubt the vicar will be amused !

But ……….. having set aside time for myself on Boxing Day for an hour and a half of hilarity , I was sadly disappointed .
This is surely Billy at his most contrived and least funny . Whether it is because he was in front of an American audience I don't know , but there was none of the usual genius .
His rambling stories , which always deviate off at a tangent then return unexpectedly to the original story line , seem for the first time to be rehearsed and scripted .. I saw the junction coming , the offshoot wasn't particularly funny , and the return to the main storyline was predictable , as was the outcome .

The one time I did really laugh was when he was telling of an old lady who fell off a bus and hit the ground running , " her crotch a mere foot off the pavement as the bus turned right and she continued down the hill at 70 miles per hour " .
Okay , so you have to hear it from the man himself to get the full effect …

Apart from this there were a few chuckles , but for the majority of the time we were just waiting for him to reach full flow , and it didn't happen.
There were no songs , no hilarious reflective stories , and several pieces which were repeated from previous shows , such as the " shark alarm " story from the Australian tour .

The audience seemed to enjoy themselves , but given the restrictive and rather prim nature of their native entertainers I feel this was probably due more to novelty value and the slight " shock " factor which we Brits experienced many years ago when Billy first burst into our public spotlight

In conclusion , if you're a true Billy fan then by all means get this just for your collection , but don't expect too much .
If you have seen some of his other work and are anticipating the same standard here you are setting yourself up for a fall .

My best advice … wait till it has been out for a while and buy it cheap . It certainly isn't worth the release price of £13.99 which my daughter paid .

If you are not yet a Billy convert , then give this a miss and buy one of his many early releases , some of which are mentioned at the beginning of this review , and I guarantee you a truly hilarious hour and a half of classic comedy from the man who must be the world's most famous and best loved alternative philosopher/comedian .

I still remember vividly seeing Billy live . His show was completely unrehearsed , he would just arrive on stage and start talking , see where it took him and go with the flow .
He always insisted that there were no intervals as it distracted him and upset the flow of the stories , and anyone who has truly experienced Billy will completely understand why

If he wasn't in the mood the show would last maybe an hour before he took himself off abruptly , with no encore , but on a night when he was having fun and getting a good response from the Audience he would ramble on for as long as it took .
Fortunately , the night I was there it was a good night , and at 12.30 am , after three hours and ten minutes with no interval , the producers had to drag him off the stage to close the theatre .
My stomach muscles hurt for days .
I will never forget the experience , and it saddens me to see the difference in Billy's performance now .

 

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