BILLY CONNOLLY is to celebrate his 70th birthday with a string of sell-out gigs in the US.
The Big Yin will perform five two-hour shows in San Francisco, followed by two nights in New York.
He had originally planned one show in the Big Apple but added a second date to meet demand from fans.
An insider said: “Billy still has the energy to do a series of two-hour plus shows that would put younger comedians to shame.
“Younger comics like Michael McIntyre, Peter Kay and Rob Brydon may be selling out shows in the UK, but none of them can match Billy’s popularity in the US.
“And at 70, he is showing them how it should be done across the Pond.”
As he approaches his landmark birthday on November 24, Connolly has never been busier.
He has been revealed as an ambassador for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. And he has also just premiered his latest movie Quartet.
The film, which stars Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay and Pauline Collins, is about a home for retired opera singers.
The Big Yin’s next big screen role will be as axe-wielding dwarf Dane Ironfoot in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit saga.
Earlier this month, Connolly revealed in an interview that he wanted to grow old disgracefully.
He says men his age should stay interested in pop music, avoid dressing like their wives and have plenty of sex.