Billy Connolly named 'best stand-up'

Billy Connolly has been voted the king of stand-up of all time by readers of Digital Spy, with 13.5 per cent of the vote.

Comedian Michael McIntyre came second with ten per cent, Lee Evans was ranked third with 8.4 per cent, followed by Bill Hicks with 6.8 per cent and Peter Kay was in fifth with 6.5 per cent of the vote.

Connolly is a Scottish comedian, actor, presenter and musician sometimes known in his native country as the Big Yin.

He started off working as a welder in Glasgow shipyards in the 1960s before becoming a folk singer and then comedian.

The 68-year-old has also starred in films including 'An Indecent Proposal' (1993), 'Mrs Brown' (1997) and 'Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events' (2007), to name just a few.

Digital Spy reader Alison Munro said: "Billy Connolly, especially his really early stuff, makes me cry with laughter and not many stand-ups can do that."

The rest of the top ten was made up of Richard Pryor, Joan Rivers, Eddie Murphy, Eddie Izzard and Chris Rock.