The Courier story of how Dundee fell in love with Billy Connolly reminded me of an interview with him at Aberdeen FC’s Pittodrie stadium.
As I prepared for the pre-match interview with Celtic boss Neil Lennon, the Big Yin suddenly appeared beside us.
A keen Celtic fan he was in the city to see his favourites and decided to join Neil and me at the players’ tunnel.
My football interview, interrupted by the comedian’s impromptu self invitation, was then itself interrupted by the appearance of Aberdeen FC’s match-day Harris Hawk, which the club used to scare the industrial seagulls which plagued the stadium.
Connolly was fascinated by the bird and asked to hold it on his arm: the hawk handler fitted Billy up with the leather protector sleeve and the bird nestled on his arm, only to immediately do what birds do, all over the Big Yin’s sleeve.
Cue outrageous laughter from the man who has spent a lifetime making people laugh.
Very little football was discussed in the hilarity which followed as Connolly left me, the Celtic boss, and the listening radio audience in stitches, as his tremendous comic genius milked the scene for all it was worth.
Read more on Billy Connolly’s visits to Dundee here.
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