Does Billy Connolly have Dementia?

[Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 642
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Iv'e been a fan of him for as long as I can remember but I've noticed in recent times that he seems to lose track of what he's talking about, more apparent in his latest DVD. I also saw him perform last year and again this appeared to be an issue. I know he's getting old(close to 70), and it's fantastic he's still doing what he does at that age and I'm also aware that as we get older our brain cells die and our train of thought may become more eratic. However, In his latest DVD he seems to be more comfortable recollecting familiar old stories and gags from the past which I believe may be a symptom of Dementia?So is this the onset of something a bit more sinister unfolding right in front of us?
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  • muddipawsmuddipaws Posts: 3,300
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    Sorry but what a horrible thread to raise, if he has what business is it of yours?

    Leave the bloke alone, good god.........
  • FlohFloh Posts: 4,999
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    muddipaws wrote: »
    Sorry but what a horrible thread to raise, if he has what business is it of yours?

    Leave the bloke alone, good god.........

    It's a discussion forum.
  • The TerminatorThe Terminator Posts: 5,312
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    The evidence you offer is...slim, to say the least.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 642
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    muddipaws wrote: »
    Sorry but what a horrible thread to raise, if he has what business is it of yours?

    Leave the bloke alone, good god.........

    This is a forum...in forums you have discussions...if you don't like the thread there are plenty of others to get involved in!

    This is not a personal attack on Billy in any way whatsoever, but merely an observation.

    'Anyone' who chooses to be and is in the limelight will be and are discussed or talked about wether it be here or in the press.

    All Iv'e said is that Im concerned that the big yin "may" have Dementia. Im not an expert on the matter but it can be disconcerting to see the big yin do his thing only to lose track of what he was banging on about several times. If you watch his latest videos and compare to previous videos you will see a noticable difference in his delivery!
  • Millie MuppetMillie Muppet Posts: 6,853
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    That's very much Billy's style though, isn't it, OP? He's famous for wandering off track and coming back to the subject hours later...if you're a long-term fan surely you would know that?

    Reciting old gags from the past is another matter entirely and it does seem that what you're trying to do here is have a dig at what you think are his declining standards by masking it with faux-concern over his mental health...

    I'm sure if you put the issue to the Big Yin himself he'd have a few choice words for you, the last one being 'off'. :D
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,252
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    I don't know about dementia but his latest DVD Live in London 2010 was very beige. There was stuff he was doing that I had already heard from other comedians and although funny he did do some of his old routine. On his day there is no one to touch Billy Connolly and if you watch some of his older DVD's he can make you cry with laughter. I hope he is around for a long time yet.
  • mia75mia75 Posts: 9,352
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    He's been forgetting what he's been talking about for years. He gets carried away with his stories.
  • MrsceeMrscee Posts: 5,271
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    like other's have said..it's something he's done for years..he'll start a story then they'll be a bit in the story that reminds him of something else..he then wanders off into that story and he then forgets what he was talking about in the first place...just sounds like an evening talking to my husband :)
  • Julie68Julie68 Posts: 3,137
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    I think Billy Connelly is great. Its part of his routine to start off on a story and then go off into other stories.
    I saw him at the city hall in Newcastle years ago and he was brilliant. He never got back to the original story.
    He's one of the very few comdians who can make you laugh from the minute he walks on stage and for weeks after.
  • Sweet FASweet FA Posts: 10,913
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    Hasn't he always been like that?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 222
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    As a forum poster who has a mother with dementia, I find your original post rather offensive and indeed your defensive rebuttal to others' responses.

    Billy Connolly, and other comedians have to remember with substantial detail the processes and order of their stand-up routines, they make it look easy but it's not. Dementia is characterised, as you of course know, by a decline in short term memory, confusion, anxiety, loss of general function, wandering, incontinence etc...shall I go on? No, I thought not.

    People with dementia are able better to recall incidents from
    their past as the long-term memory is not so affected as other functions within the brain, however this is not necessarily the case. Simply to infer that someone has dementia because they tell what are in effect funny stories about their childhood or earlier life quite frankly, boggles!

    I hope that dementia never ever touches your life, OP. If it does then I hope that you will review your thread with a degree of embarrassment. Or maybe it has...if so, put "dementia" into Google and don't make such a fool of yourself.
  • muddipawsmuddipaws Posts: 3,300
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    Tigers Eye wrote: »
    As a forum poster who has a mother with dementia, I find your original post rather offensive and indeed your defensive rebuttal to others' responses.

    Billy Connolly, and other comedians have to remember with substantial detail the processes and order of their stand-up routines, they make it look easy but it's not. Dementia is characterised, as you of course know, by a decline in short term memory, confusion, anxiety, loss of general function, wandering, incontinence etc...shall I go on? No, I thought not.

    People with dementia are able better to recall incidents from
    their past as the long-term memory is not so affected as other functions within the brain, however this is not necessarily the case. Simply to infer that someone has dementia because they tell what are in effect funny stories about their childhood or earlier life quite frankly, boggles!

    I hope that dementia never ever touches your life, OP. If it does then I hope that you will review your thread with a degree of embarrassment. Or maybe it has...if so, put "dementia" into Google and don't make such a fool of yourself.

    Tigers Eye, thank you for that

    My Gran recently passed away and was suffering terribly with Dimentia, and it broke all our hearts to see this matriach of the family to be reduced to nothing but a child

    Yes this is a forum but there are reallly, honestly times then a little sensitivity and thoughtfulness come in to play. To start a thread questioning if someone has dimentia really does leave something to the imagination.

    Hope the OP and the others who were condacending to my reply dont have to go through the trauma of watching a loved one revert to childlike in front of your eyes and see your own mother crumble, you should be ashamed :cry:
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 574
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    My Grandad had dementia and I don't see there is anything wrong with the OP.

    Christ, lighten up people. They weren't mocking the disease so what are you all up in arms about?!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 222
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    My Grandad had dementia and I don't see there is anything wrong with the OP.

    Christ, lighten up people. They weren't mocking the disease so what are you all up in arms about?!

    The ignorance, mainly.
  • Delboy219Delboy219 Posts: 3,193
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    I will agree that billy regurgitates the same jokes more than ever these days. So much so that for a major fan like myself it becomes a "spot the new joke" type of drink game.

    Live in London is the worst dvd he's put out. Probably ever. I was bored watching it.

    If you want decent Connolly material i'm afraid you have to look back a few years.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 222
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    Agree. Doesn't mean that he has a serious degenerative mental illness though, does it?
  • ValderyValdery Posts: 4,100
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    Iv'e been a fan of him for as long as I can remember but I've noticed in recent times that he seems to lose track of what he's talking about, more apparent in his latest DVD. I also saw him perform last year and again this appeared to be an issue. I know he's getting old(close to 70), and it's fantastic he's still doing what he does at that age and I'm also aware that as we get older our brain cells die and our train of thought may become more eratic. However, In his latest DVD he seems to be more comfortable recollecting familiar old stories and gags from the past which I believe may be a symptom of Dementia?So is this the onset of something a bit more sinister unfolding right in front of us?


    Billy Connolly always lost track and went off on a tangent, from early on in his career. That was part of his charm I think, because nothing was rehearsed.

    He is not as funny as he used to be earlier on (I think he was more raw and fresh then) but I still think he is great. His old shows still have me on the floor rolling. ;):D

    I also love his travelling series...so amazingly informative of things in each area/region/country. ;)
  • Delboy219Delboy219 Posts: 3,193
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    Tigers Eye wrote: »
    Agree. Doesn't mean that he has a serious degenerative mental illness though, does it?

    Of course he doesn't. This thread is daft.
  • DE53DE53 Posts: 2,641
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    Not a fan. Just never really " got him " Thought he was always like that!
    Saw Bernard Manning about a year before he died he behaved like that as well
    Never occured to me it was dementia just getting old i think
  • Delboy219Delboy219 Posts: 3,193
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    I get like that myself sometimes. And i'm only 31.
  • lexi22lexi22 Posts: 16,394
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    My Grandad had dementia and I don't see there is anything wrong with the OP.

    Christ, lighten up people. They weren't mocking the disease so what are you all up in arms about?!

    ^^ This.

    Re Connolly, I'd say he's suffering from a terminal case of unfunniness more than anything else.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 10,287
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    Valdery wrote: »
    Billy Connolly always lost track and went off on a tangent, from early on in his career. That was part of his charm I think, because nothing was rehearsed.

    He is not as funny as he used to be earlier on (I think he was more raw and fresh then) but I still think he is great. His old shows still have me on the floor rolling. ;):D

    I also love his travelling series...so amazingly informative of things in each area/region/country. ;)

    I thought he was a tad slower than usual though and took a bit longer recollecting some things, more at the start. I just put it down to his age. I forget some things now at the ripe old age of 36...and Billy's pushing 70. C'est la vie.

    I loved the DVD and it urged me to put on some of his earlier ones. I spent the evening creased up with laughter. :D
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 642
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    I thought he was a tad slower than usual though and took a bit longer recollecting some things, more at the start. I just put it down to his age. I forget some things now at the ripe old age of 36...and Billy's pushing 70. C'est la vie.

    My original point exactly!! Why all the negative posts God only know's. YES he's getting older as we ALL do, but my question was is he suffering the onset of Dementia or just getting old??? Perhaps he is or maybe it is no more than just getting on a bit...... at which point was I offending anyone with Dementia!!?? Get a life!!
  • Kazz_xKazz_x Posts: 844
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    It's age. The signs of dementia are more commonly seen in private, unless he is in the mild stages. I'm ashamed to admit this as a huge fan of stand up comedy, but I've never seen any of his gigs so don't really know his style. Assuming he is, like most comedians, on an empty stage and talking about life, and not totally about himself, we won't really have an idea. Mild symptoms are usually forgetfulness, briefly forgetting normal household items, general wandering and losing track of time and date. All things I doubt we could see from a comedy show.

    Also, I have not long started training so my reply may be a little bit sketchy, but thought it may help a bit.
  • Delboy219Delboy219 Posts: 3,193
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    I just watched Billy on youtube. In the old film The Elephants Graveyard.

    Bloody awesome. This was the days before he started trying to talk all posh.
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