Want to stop living a ‘beige’ life? Billy Connolly’s wit holds the answer.

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Want to stop living a ‘beige’ life? Billy Connolly’s wit holds the answer.

Columnist Becky Tallent reflects on Julie Ferraro’s book “The Wee Book of How Not To Be Beige,” the FāVS Book Club’s August selection.

By Becky Tallent | FāVS News Columnist

The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News. 

Beige is a dull color. It’s a safe color, but not at all exciting.

So why do people want to lead a life that can be described as beige?

FāVS columnist Julie A. Ferraro examines that question and provides some tips for brightening one’s life in her work, “The Wee Book of How Not To Be Beige: Drawn from the Wisdom of Billy Connolly.” It is the August selection for the FāVS Book Club.

Who is Billy Connolly?

For those who are not familiar with Sir Billy Connolly, he is a Scottish comedian, author, musician, artist and actor best known to American audiences for his work in the 1990s movies “Mrs. Brown” and “The Boondock Saints.” Connolly, now 83 and diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, retired from comedy tours in 2018.

A bit of a rogue, Connolly’s stand up performances were frequently laced with profanity and a deep distrust of organized religion, especially the Catholic Church. So, why is someone like Ferraro, a woman deeply associated with Catholic religious communities, using Connolly as a beacon of how to live?

Ferraro explains it’s because Connolly never followed the expected path — and that defiance is what caught her attention.

Finding her own voice

A self-described prolific writer, Ferraro explains she always wanted to write, even when it was discouraged by others, especially family members. Why couldn’t she be the more traditional woman? There was something inside that just said no.

That is why Connolly had such an appeal: his absolute defiance of normal, and his use of humor to make the idea of wisdom a question rather than an answer.

Don’t get me wrong, Connolly’s humor is profanity-laced and often shocking, especially to Americans. But exactly how accepting his use of language is to his followers comes in a story from the actor David Tennant talking in 2022 on the “The Graham Norton Show.”

The son of a Scottish minister, Tennant said his father never cursed, and he never cursed in front of his father. Cursing as an actor was OK, he said, because it was part of the “script.”

Until the night his father attended a Connolly show, later talking about the performance, he was screaming profanity the same way as Connolly did.

“I guess it was OK because it was part of the script,” Tennant mused.

In the wee book, Ferraro takes the idea of listening to Connolly and running with the concepts in one’s own life. She explains some of her life’s difficulties, understanding the difficulties Connolly endured, by taking Connolly’s advice to “learn something every day.”

Sadly, she notes, learning stops being a priority for adults who are beige.  

By learning, people can incorporate new concepts and ideas, which can be helpful on a professional and personal level, she argues.

Embracing change

Most people will not be as mischievous, or cheeky, as Connolly. Most people would not shift their goals and ambitions the way he did during his long career. But Connolly points out there is much to be learned by veering away from the straight path and opinions do not need to remain constant throughout one’s life — that change can be good.

Like Connolly, Ferraro says she was called into her profession. Connolly said in an interview that he did not choose his profession based on fame and wealth, he chose comedy because he was drawn to it. Like her hero, Ferraro said hers was not an easy path, nor does it stop being difficult. The difference, she said, is that one accepts the challenges thanks to a willingness to change.

For more about “The Wee Book of How Not To Be Beige” and the wisdom found therein from both Connolly and Ferraro, join the FāVS Book Club this August.

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