Too old for this shit...

Billy Connolly loses patience with two troublesome audiences

Billy Connolly has been criticised for the second time in a week for ending his stand-up show abruptly.

Fans in both Blackpool and Scarborough were left disappointed when the comic lost patience with disruptive audience members and walked off stage.

Although Connolly – who was this week named Britain’s most influential comedian – performed for around two hours non-stop, the sudden end left a bad impression on some of his fans in both towns.

The first problems were at his show in Scarborough’s Futurist Theatre last week, when the show was reportedly spoiled by drunken punters making disruptive trips to the bar and toilet.

Writing on the Scarborough Evening News website, audience member Paul Tye said people were ‘tripping in and out [to the bar] almost the entire performance’ and said that those going to the toilet seemed to do so ‘in the most disruptive and disrespectful fashion possible’.

‘Billy made a couple of comments about this to discourage people from disrupting the performance but this seemed to fall on deaf ears as this behaviour continued throughout the show, the distraction clearly causing Billy to loose flow on a few occasions (remember this guy is nearly 70 years old!) ,’ Tye added. ‘The front of house staff were clearly at fault for not nipping this in the bud

‘As Billy was just about to go into his final story someone in the audience (again possibly fuelled by the alcohol; certainly disrespectful) shouted some abuse and it was at this point that Billy had clearly had enough – and why should he have to put up with that? No one in any other job would – and ended the show. The audience gave him a tremendous round of applause but after he took his bows he didn't return for an encore.

‘This ending put a dampener on what had actually been a funny show and from what we observed, most people were leaving with miserable faces.’

Another poster pointed out that what had been yelled was not abuse but "Wildebeest!" – a reference to one of 69-year-old Connolly’s older routines.

Another fan,with the internet name Hatman, added: ‘A really disappointing effort from him. Very poor material which, if he continues to deliver like tha,t he is going to get a lot more heckling on the rest of the tour.’

Now it has emerged that the same problems hit Connolly’s show at the Blackpool Opera House, again prompting him to curtail his routine.

Ffyona McKeating told the Blackpool Gazette: ‘It was terrible. It was such an anti climax and I felt he should have been used to hecklers. I’ve seen other comedians who shake off hecklers.”

And Alan Wright added: ‘He was going on about strokes and it was quite a touchy subject, but he was trying to make light of a difficult situation, then someone shouted at him.

‘It was a disappointing end to a really good night because he had been on form. There were times when I was crying with laughter.’

A Twitter user called MightyFallenOak added: ‘Billy Connolly was hilarious last night in Blackpool. Such a shame it ended so abruptly, felt a little let down.’

And another, called Aiden, added: ‘Fantastic show in Blackpool last night, but the heckler inished the show. She went, Connolly went, we all went.Pity.’

Published: 2 Feb 2012

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