Sir Billy Connolly: I can't perform the way I used to. It doesn't roll the way it used to.

In the latest of a new podcast series, led by broadcaster Janice Forsyth, Sir Billy looks back on his thoughts of fame as a youngster and how it affects his daily life today with the endless requests for a selfie with The Big Yin. He also revealed how he was partial to a roll and sliced sausage.

Sir Billy said: "I can't perform the way I used to. It doesn't roll the way it used to. I would phone home to my daughter, to my wife and said, I can't think of anything funny. Can you think of anything funny I've said in the last couple of days?"

The Great Scot series, launched by The Big Light Scottish podcast network co-founded by Ms Forsyth and producer Fiona White, has already featured singer Annie Lennox and X-Men star and actor James McAvoy – with both interviews being carried out virtually in lockdown.

Read more: Coronavirus Scotland: Heartbreaking moment revealed by grieving woman as she said goodbye to partner dying from Covid on an Ipad

However, Ms Forsyth, who hosted her own shows on BBC Radio Scotland, spoke to Sir Billy face to face a few months ago pre-lockdown and the warmth and fondness they have for one another comes over in how relaxed and frank the comedian is.

“I have built up quite a relationship with Sir Billy over the years and I think that really helps him relax. Years ago he told me he wanted to speak to me as he listened to my radio show - I was thrilled ofcourse. He appeared on my Saturday morning radio which was a dream come true and he said he’d really enjoyed it. The he suggested another idea that we go through his songs on his MP3 player to see his choice of music and that resulted in the Do The Shuffle radio series with Sir Billy.

“We have an established relationship and trust. Even given his Parkinson’s, his recall is amazing when telling stories. He has been away for sometime, but I think Glasgow means more to him now than it ever did and there is a real emotional tug there. He remains very moved and overwhelmed by the response the murals which were unveiled of him in the city.”

Sir Billy opens up about a number of issues in his life including whether or not he could envisage fame happening.

“One of the things I asked him was did he ever think back to how the trajectory of how his life has been so extraordinary, probably the most famous Scotsman in the world, the acting, Hollywood, writing plays, on and on and on and on,” added Ms Forsyth. “Did he imagine any of this happening at all when he was a wee boy and he said he did.”

Here is Sir Billy take on life’s twists and turns in his own words

Early thoughts of fame:

I imagined it all. I used to lie in bed and wonder what I would do when I was famous and I would have £100 to spend when I was famous. And I would play the guitar. And be famous like Hank Williams.

On his beard and Parkinson’s:

“I've been shaving it down. but once I had shaved it down, I remembered why I'd grown it, because I'd begun to drool, with the Parkinson's. It's Another added attraction to the Parkinson's disease, a never ending line of attractive additives to you. I find it's very attractive to women. I like Billy Connolly - he drools well. I like a man with a shiny chin, but I grew my beard to sop it up and it was so good I'd forgotten that I was drooling truly and I shaved it down to a little arrow point. And then the next day I was dabbing it with my hankie. Every day's an adventure.”

Are there days when Parkinson’s gets him down?

Yes, and I had a Doctor in New York, he was a bit of an eejit. He said, you understand, it's an incurable disease. And I said, yes, but you understand it's much nicer to say, we have yet to find a cure. Give me a light in the tunnel. You could equally say life's an incurable disease. Absolutely, breathing's an incurable disease. Yeah. The minute you're born in the countdown to death, you know, I mean, there's all these ways of looking at it. So there's ways of looking at it - the grandness of it, and it's going to be with me until I die. And that suits me lovely. I can cope with that. What I can't cope with is the dead hand of dogma. This is incurable.

On giving up live comedy and stagefright

I can't perform the way I used to. It doesn't roll the way it used to. It's difficult to explain - there's a process from leaving the dressing room to getting to the stage where the nerves disappear. Like, I was tortured with nervousness before a show. And one of the symptoms of it is that everything you are thinking disappears, all the funny lines that you had in mind have gone and the ideas. So you have nothing. I would phone home to my daughter, to my wife and said, I can't think of anything funny. Can you think of anything funny I've said in the last couple of days? And then my manager would come in and say, right, Billy we'd walk from the dressing room to the edge of the stage and it was wearing off during that walk. And then on the walk from the side of the stage to the microphone, it went completely. And I would change into this other guy mentally. I would be in a different mood and words would come easily and ideas come easily. And I don't know if that would come back.

On the power of laughter

It's very good for you. It's an emotional shake up. And it's terribly good for you. And when people come to a concert and it's two hours long and they've been laughing for two hours, it's the first time they've laughed for two hours in their life and they wake up in the morning, they think they've been jogging in their sleep, they're all sore.

On the endless selfies he’s asked to pose for

Does it only happen in Glasgow?

No, it happens everywhere except America. In America they think I'm an actor. And they treat me with distance that actors get. Comedians get "hello! How are you?! Actors get "Oh, I love your work."

There's a weird thing that happens in America. It's a very pleasant thing. You can be in a restaurant having your dinner and there's a table full of people next to you and you think everything's okay. Hunky dory, get your dinner and the family is OK, because that autograph time, you worry about your family. You've broken up the conversation. You've ended the story because you have to sign your name on a menu. Blah, blah, blah. Well, suppose this table doesn't look your way, and then you'll be talking to your wife or whoever at the end of the dinner, and this table will get up and walk to the door. And as they're going out the door, they look over towards you and give you a little salute, a nod - "I know who you are." And it's a very pleasant thing. Because what they're saying is "I know who you are and I left you alone."

Sir Billy’s favourite filling in a Scottish roll

Square slice sausage in a roll is a joy and it's a food I would hold against any food in the world, against any smorgasbord or, whatever they call it. I get sandwiches in America that you can't get your mouth over - gigantic things, corned beef and deli sandwiches. And when you bite one end it all spews out the other end - things that are impossible to eat, like a taco. Unless you're wearing waterproofed trousers. A roll and sausage is just such a joy.

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