Sir Billy Connolly says his sense of humour has helped him battle Parkinson’s
Sir Billy Connolly has admitted he hates his loss of independence as he lives with Parkinson’s disease but his sense of humour lifts his spirits during the tougher times.
The Scottish comedian, 80, revealed his wife now has to dress him but he can still crack jokes about how his life has changed since his diagnosis 10 years ago.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “My wife puts my clothes on in the morning. It’s not very manly. Your mum puts your clothes on. I’m clumsy. I’m out of balance a lot and I fall. I’m fed up with it. I think I’ve a good attitude to it. I say to the disease, ‘I’ll give you a break if you give me a break.’ We’re nice to each other.
“My memory is short. I forgot the name of one of my dogs, which is really awkward when you’re shouting to it in the street. You have to say, ‘Hey, doggy, doggy,’ which is terrible. I felt embarrassed for the dog. You could tell it knew.”
The Scottish comedian, 80, revealed his wife now has to dress him but he can still crack jokes about his condition (WireImage)
His diagnosis for the illness, which affects coordination, came on the same day he found out he had prostate cancer, for which he later received the all-clear. Sir Billy, who lives in Florida with his wife, psychologist Pamela Stephenson, and who has swapped stand-up comedy for creating art, said: “My life has changed radically.
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“I walk with a stick, and at airports I have to get the wheelchair," he said. “I hate being dependent to that degree and I feel sorry for other people who are in wheelchairs and who have it worse than me. But it’s a thing I just have to put up with.
“I shake a bit. I don’t shake every day. But for about an hour or two I’ll shake and when I’m drawing it spoils it. Then I conquered it. I draw with shakes in it and it works. I think most things can be conquered, especially the depression. Depression is such a complex affair but you have to conquer it, take it on face-to-face and refuse to be part of it. I’ve always been easily made [to] laugh. I am lucky with my sense of humour. I can laugh myself out of most things.”
In an extract from his new book, Rambling Man, about his adventures on the road, Sir Billy said he has considered what he would like to have written on his gravestone. He said: “I was thinking, ‘Jesus Christ, is that the time already?’ but Pamela was shaky about it, so we settled on, ‘You’re standing on my balls!’ in tiny wee writing.
“As for me - I haven’t made up my mind about my burial place, but I’m thinking that instead of a headstone, a table on an island in Loch Lomond for fishermen to picnic on would be nice.”
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