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    An Audience With Billy Connolly
    Granada/Universal . R4 . COLOR . 50 mins . M15+ . PAL

      Feature
    Contract

    An Audience With Billy Connolly is a made for television special that was filmed at the Albert Hall in 1985, in front of some very well known personalities. As Billy performs it really is a case of "spot the celebrity". Although only running for 50:25, this is a very good performance from the master of stand-up comedy. As is usually the case with Connolly, he covers a vast range of topics, easily drifting off to others, but never quite losing his original thread. Also something that is quite common with Connolly is the inability of the viewer to remember much of what he has covered. There are subjects such as giant slippers, growing up in Glasgow and incontinence pants, all delivered in a style only he can achieve.

    His enthusiasm is infectious and his ability to seemingly make it up as he goes along is admirable. The number of well-known faces in the audience is both varied and interesting. Many viewers will spend a large portion of the show trying to identify certain people. There are stars such as Bob Hoskins, Clive James, Michael Parkinson, Joanna Lumley, Robbie Coltrane, Bill Wyman, Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi from Status Quo, Samantha Fox and many more.

    The only criticism with this release is that it is so short, being only 50 minutes in length. As is the case with Billy Connolly, it is quite easy to sit and watch him for hours and just as you get into the mood of this performance, it ends. The only other minor criticism is to do with the editing. It seems that certain footage of the audience laughing is used time and time again. This is only a minor distraction, but it is Billy Connolly that the viewer wants to see.

      Video
      Audio
      Extras
    Contract

    Being an older TV special, this is presented in full frame and therefore is not 16x9 enhanced. Picture is reasonably sharp throughout, although it does suffer with detail in some areas. There are not too many colours in use, but the ones shown are reasonably true. Artefacts are never a problem and aliasing is also minimal. There are no subtitles supplied, but these are not really necessary, as his accent is surprisingly understandable.

    Audio supplied is Dolby Digital 2.0 and it does the job sufficiently. Dialogue is clear at all times, as is the audience noise. Audio synch is never a problem and there are no signs of drop outs. The surrounds or subwoofer are not called into action. Quite simply, the audio does all it needs to.

    Nothing in the way of extras is supplied, simply scene selection.

    Overall this is another fine performance from the Big Yin. Although briefer than many of his other recent releases, this is still a show worth seeing. Normally for a DVD of this length I would recommend rental only, but seeing as it is Billy Connolly and there is a guarantee that the viewer will more than likely forget the topics covered, then I would recommend purchase as you can view this one again and again.


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  •   And I quote...
    "The Big Yin gives another great performance in front of an audience of famous faces, shame about the length though! "
    - Adrian Turvey
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Akai DV-P2000
    • TV:
          AKAI CT-29S55AT 68cm
    • Receiver:
          Akai AM-SS1500
    • Speakers:
          Akai
    • Centre Speaker:
          Akai
    • Surrounds:
          Akai
    • Subwoofer:
          Akai
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