BILLY FIGHTS ON
Billy Connolly reflects on being ‘near the end’ and may have already filmed last major TV appearance
Scottish funnyman has cut back on all his work since he was diagnosed with Parkinson's and prostrate cancer on the same day in 2018
BILLY Connolly has revealed that his life is "slipping away" and he may have already filmed his last major TV appearance.
The Scottish comedian will appear in the second part of his BBC documentary series Made In Scotland on Friday night and reflects that he is now "near the end" of his life.
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The funnyman, 76, was dealt a devastating blow when he was diagnosed with both prostate cancer and Parkinson's on the same day in 2013.
He says: “There is no denying it, I am 75, I have got Parkinson’s and I am at the wrong end of the telescope of life. I am at the point where the yesteryears mean more than the yesterdays.
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“Because it is back there in my childhood and youth when I go to all those things that made me that live keenest in my memory now.”
Later in the documentary he adds: "My life, it’s slipping away and I can feel it and I should. I’m 75, I’m near the end. I’m a damn sight nearer the end than I am the beginning. But it doesn’t frighten me, it’s an adventure and it is quite interesting to see myself slipping away.
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He continues: “As bits slip off and leave me, talents leave and attributes leave. I don’t have the balance I used to have, I don’t have the energy I used to have. I can’t hear the way I used to hear, I can’t see as good as I used to.
"I can’t remember the way I used to remember. And they all came one at a time and they just slipped away, thank you.
"It is like somebody is in charge of you and they are saying ‘right, I added all these bits when you were a youth, now it is time to subtract’.
“I can’t work my left hand on the banjo, it is as if I am being prepared for something. Some other adventure, which is over the hill. I have got all this stuff to lose first and then I will be the shadowy side of the hill, doing the next episode in the spirit world.”
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Billy says he has "cut back" on all his work since his Parkinson's got worse and is shown asking for filming to be stopped as he is overwhelmed with pain.
Later he is sat on a rock talking to camera when he begins shaking uncontrollably.
He adds: “The Parkinson’s is strange because it is not going to go away. All my life I have got sick and I have got the flu and pneumonia various things and they all went away, this isn’t going anywhere. It is going to get worse.
“It takes a certain calm to deal with, and I sometimes don’t have it. I sometimes get angry with it, but that doesn’t last long, I just collapse in laughter.
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“The good things are there, the love we have for people is still there, and with a bit of luck the love they have for you is still there.
“And I am very lucky in as much as I made a bit of a mark, and you think ‘well I must have done something right’. And that keeps you company when you are older, is the fact that when you were creative, you created well, it accompanies you, it is a great companion.
“You can volunteer to take life seriously but it is gonna get you, they are going to win over you, it is harsh, but you can either break down and complain about how miserable your life is or have a go at. it and survive. I think that is the basis of it all.”
But trying to remain positive, he addes: “There is still time to go yet, there are still places to go, new friends to make, maybe new songs to write and sing and jokes to tell.”
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