Dear Billy: A Love Letter to the Big Yin from the People of Scotland at the Traverse Theatre Edinburgh

When Scottish writer and performer Gary McNair told Billy Connolly he wanted to make a show about him, he said, ‘Can you not wait till I’m deid?’

But McNair needed him to know just how much he matters to Scotland. And so he set off on a journey, talking to people up and down the country who had a story to tell about meeting ‘the Big Yin’ or who just wanted to say how much he meant to them.

McNair is now setting off on another journey, this time touring Scotland with his 90-minute show which pays tribute to the man who took his moment and set the world on fire.

Produced by The National Theatre of Scotland no less, he began in Edinburgh playing to packed houses – though he always leaves a seat vacant just in case Billy should turn up!

McNair looks and sounds a wee bit like a young Connolly and his patter is reminiscent of those early days. But he maintains he is not impersonating him. That particular talent he uses to illustrate the stories related to him by people from all walks of life which highlight Connolly’s humour and humanity.

It’s some feat. He delivers at a cracking pace and with brilliant comic timing, dressed in black trousers emblazoned with yellow bananas and a pink jacket with Billy’s face etched on the back of it, while on stage there are neon-lit spectacles, a banana chair and welly boot.

From growing up in Glasgow through working in the shipyards to finding fame, McNair charts Connolly’s life through the eyes of people who knew him or felt like they knew him. It’s a moving tribute, interspersed with traditional music from guitarist Simon Liddell and fiddler, guitarist and fine singer Jill O’Sullivan.

I hope ‘the Big Yin’ does make it to a performance. It’ll show him just how much he is loved. And Gary McNair deserves the recognition.

Dear Billy: A Love Letter to the Big Yin is touring Scotland.