A night out with Keith Moon, narrowly avoiding arrest and boozing with Parky: this documentary sees comedy’s first rock star tell naughty tales that are as moving as they are funny
From his home in Key West, Florida, Billy Connolly describes what he used to get up to after a standup gig had finished. He would continue on into the night, and “find some tavern where people were happy to listen to a tale or two”. Billy Connolly Does … (Gold) is just that: prodded by his long-time director Mike Reilly, he reminisces about the past, telling tales gathered together on a certain theme, illustrated by a pacy mix of animation, library clips and archive footage.
Sometimes these hybrid compilation/interview shows work well – French and Saunders did a great one on women in comedy last year – and sometimes they feel like a long-expired rock band repackaging their greatest hits for the ninth time. Connolly is such a charmer that this one works beautifully. Subsequent episodes will cover fatherhood, marriage and home, but the theme tonight is bad behaviour, which shows off Connolly at his most raucous, and allows for a spot of profound reflection at the end.
