The hilarious prank George Harrison and Billy Connolly played on a waiter
Everybody wanted to be friends with The Beatles. The members were part of the 1960s cultural elite, but they rubbed elbows with many of their fellow famous figures, including comedians, actors, authors, and other musicians. Of all the band members who had famous friends, most people tend to cite George Harrison as having one of the best senses of humour.
Everyone from Paul Simon to Eric Idle and Martin Short has memorable stories about Harrison. More often than not, those stories have at least some comedic elements. But it takes some real comedy chops to impress a real comedian like Billy Connolly. As it turns out, Connolly and Harrison were friends.
“I like George Harrison,” Connolly said on The Adam Buxton Podcast. “He’s not my favourite, none of them is my favourite. I treasure my friendship with them. George was a lovely man. I spent a lot of time with him. A lot more than the other ones.”
“I remember we went for Chinese food in the East End of London and a waiter came out and served us,” Connolly added. “And then he came back all shuffly footed, and he said, ‘I believe there’s somebody here I should know.’ One of the guys who was with us pointed to George and said, ‘He used to play for Manchester United’.”
“[The waiter] said, ‘Great can I have your autograph?’ George signed it,” Connolly continues. “He went away quite happy. And the waiter came back and he asked me something. And I said, ‘That’s OK man.’ And I turned to George and I said, ‘I love ‘man’. You don’t have to learn anybody’s name. Just call them ‘man.’”
“George said, ‘It’s good to be a man.’ And I said, ‘I suppose it is, it’s very nice,’” Connolly concluded. “He said, ‘We were the boys for so long.’ It was funny to see his side of it. He wasn’t allowed to be a man.” Connolly also happened to be friend Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr over the years, coming away with a comical McCartney tale”.
“I have got a funny thing going just now with Paul McCartney,” Connolly told The Scotsman. “My daughter was in charge of sending all the Christmas cards away and she hid them in a cupboard and did something else and forgot about them. Then my wife came back in February and discovered them and sent them all.”
“I got a lovely letter from Paul McCartney saying ‘Thanks for the Christmas card, it’s made March such a nice month.’ And so I got one from him this year in March. So I sent his three days ago,” Connolly said.
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