Billy Connolly opens up on dealing with Parkinson's as comedian delivers rare health update

"I suffer from Parkinson's disease, and comedy has helped me to deal with it," he explained.

Speaking on BBC Maestro, he continued: "It has given me a very light look at it.

"I invented a way to stop shaking by pointing a gun at it and I would stop shaking.

"It's taught me to deal with today, it's taught me to not bother about the future, the future will take care of itself.

"It's taught me to avoid meetings of people who also suffer from it, you all sit and talk about the disease and you look at them and think, 'f*** an I going to be like that?'

"None of that happens to me, I have a very fresh outlook on it, and it's massively good for me."

His BBC Maestro discussion had been about building a career in comedy, with the veteran performer sharing candid reflections on his career.

"Ambition is important to some people," he commented before admitting: "It wasn't important to me.

"And I don't like ambition in people, it scares me. It makes them do things that they wouldn't normally do, because they're driven by this ambition to get this thing achieved - to be the boss in the factory or to be the boss in the office.

"I've been uncomfortable around ambition. And in comedy, I've met a lot of ambitious people.

"I like things quiet, and people to get on with what they do and play good because they can play good, sing well because they can sing well, and be funny because they're funny.

"And never mind the ambition, that's a different department."

The Scot also talked about the pride he has in his natural accent, adding: "People in Scotland have always liked that I spoke with my own accent.

"They've always been very proud of that, that I did it with their accent.

"Scottish people have a big hang up about that, about people thinking their accent is weird, but it's not weird.

"It's colourful and lovely. It isn't a speech defect.

"If there's a lesson here, it's tell the story the way you feel it should be told."