Comedy legend Sir Billy Connolly has said that his life is slipping away but he does not fear death and that laughter helps him to cope with Parkinson’s disease.
The Scottish star said that, at 76, he sees old age as an adventure that will prepare him for his ‘next episode in the spirit world’.
He told the BBC in a new documentary – ‘Billy Connolly: Made in Scotland’ – that he was at ‘the wrong end of the telescope of life’.
However, he added there was ‘still time to go yet, places to go, new friends to make, new songs to write and sing and jokes to tell’.
The documentary saw Connolly look back on his life, from his early childhood to his hugely successful career.
He said: “My life is slipping away and I can feel it and I should. I’m 75 and 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’s quite interesting to see myself slipping away, as bits slip off and leave me, talents leave and attributes leave.
“It’s as if I’m being prepared for something, some other adventure, which is over the hill. I’ve got all this stuff to lose first, and then I’ll be at the shadowy side of the hill doing the next episode in the spirit world.”
He added that he sometimes might have a ‘shoddy day’ but had learned that with a certain calm, he was able to deal with the knowledge that his condition will never go away.
He said: “Sometimes I don’t have it. Sometimes I get angry with it, but that doesn’t last long. I just collapse in laughter.
“I’m 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’re older, the fact that when when you were creative, you created well. It accompanies you. It’s a great companion.
“You can volunteer to take life seriously, but it is going to get you. You know they’re going to win over you. It’s harsh. You can either break down and complain about how miserable your life is, or have a go at it and survive. I think that’s the basis of it all.”
Written by Michael Kehoe @michaelcalling
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