Billy Connolly has been on TV screens throughout October with his Route 66 adventures on the United States’ tourist trail. Now he is releasing a greatest hits DVD “You Asked For It” featuring highlights from all his live shows from the “wee jobbie” to the time he visited aristocrats in Yorkshire. All of Connolly’s hairstyles and outfits are included from the black tabbard with military boots to the famous purple goatee.
In the excerpts from his career, Connolly tackles social issues such as Catholicism and smoking in hotels as well as plenty of gender and body related material. An hour and a half of carefully crafted comedy expertise.
A bonus feature is a 1976 TV special which Billy did. The feature is worth watching for the seventies outfits alone – Connolly himself sports a rather fetching rainbow motif shirt, flared jeans and heeled shoes. The half hour studio show includes several numbers sung to the acoustic guitar including the Welly Song and an ode to Connolly’s trips to the outdoor lavvie when he was a lad.
The younger comic looks wan in the studio lights but still has the same calm star quality which made him an instant stage hit. The subjects of the jokes revolve more around Glasgow and pubs than his later work, but the original kernels of world greatness are there. Be prepared for a good dose of Scots and some folk-style melodies.
