Billy Connolly: Live in New York

No one could argue that Billy Connolly has had a good career in regards to his stand up comedy career. It's just a pity that this DVD could well be his last. Recorded in the unfamiliar setting of a New York Theatre we watch Billy Connolly engage with his New York audience. We observe 90 minutes of old and new material some of it taken from his Live 1994 DVD. To be honest the performance is half hearted and only rarely attains glimpses of a comic genius working. I don't think it's got anything to do with material being unfunny but the energy levels normally associated with a Billy Connolly Stand up gig aren't there and we get the feeling that Billy Connolly is like every other person in their 60's feeling their age.

The crowd do not help matters. They are boisterous and noisy during the performance and Connolly appears to be having a really bad night with keeping his audiences attention. It does not help that right on at the beginning when he is just settling into the performance he is interrupted by latecomers to his show. At one stage this happening would have been the start to a great night. But instead of putting them down in his traditional way Connolly reverts to a skit about the theater being built on a Native American trail and that's why people are walking all over the place. It doesn't go anywhere. At times he makes a breakthrough particularly during the last story but it is sadly a case of too little too late. He has one great story about a party his roadies had on tour but it is really filled with ideas that amount to nothing.

They say comedians lose their edge when success comes their way and that is why many of them move into film and television and some would apply this to Connolly. But to be fair Connolly has proved them wrong with many of his tours and it is just a pity that this show was recorded in the aftermath of his hasty retreat back to the states after some unsavory comments about the late Ken Bigley. Maybe his confidence has taken a severe battering on account of this. This could well explain his decision to record the concert in New York and not in his native U.K. homeland. I need not remind fans of the outrage caused by his Bigley comments. So recording in an environment that is a first and looks to be boisterous and hostile probably prevented him in presenting his best performance. Or maybe he really is feeling his age. All in all not what I expected from my favorite comedian but has a few skits to entertain but not enough to hold my attention long enough. A disappointing 3 out of 10.