A DRUMCHAPEL actor is bringing two of his best-loved characters back to a West End stage.
Brian James O’Sullivan, also known as Brido Hingwy, will perform Uh Huh: The Janice & Frank Story – Part 3: Cruise at the Oran Mor this weekend, telling the tale of the popular couple as they embark on a cruise.
The upcoming show is the third installment of Janice and Frank’s story to grace the theatre after Brian brought the first chapter to the venue in December 2021.
Brian first started sharing videos depicting the duo on Twitter during lockdown, before sharing them on TikTok where he now has more than 20,000 followers.
"The videos themselves started in lockdown and they went on Twitter first, and the earliest sign of any success was a retweet from Limmy which kind of rocketed them away very quickly, then TikTok came later because a lot of younger pals said I had to," Brain explained.
"These character videos were things I always sent to my closest pals who I knew would enjoy them.
"Uncle Frank started as Uncle Patter, and then the first video of Janice was actually just me going 'ah' repeatedly having a one-sided conversation and you had to guess from watching the video what the conversation was about.
"Over a longer period, I realised her job was probably a doctor’s receptionist and then I discovered Frankie and Janice were married.
"I knew that she was like everybody’s auntie, and he was like everybody’s uncle."
Brian believes the success of his videos comes from people being able to recognise the characters as people within their own lives.
"I’ve noticed a lot of people say ‘that’s my mum’, or ‘that’s my auntie, have you been listening to us’, so people identify really strongly with the types of things these characters say," he explains.
"They’re recognisable and there’s a bit of universality to them.
"I’m overwhelmed and delighted people get what it is I’m doing."
While the upcoming show does follow on from previous productions, Brian says you don’t need to have seen them or the characters online to understand what’s happening, and insists his shows are for "everyone" whether they frequently go to the theatre or not.
He said: "It does pick up where the others left off in the sense of the timeline, but it stands alone and it’s a story about the characters and what would happen to them if they went on a cruise.
"The reason for that is because I wanted to create an environment where Frank and Janice could feasibly run into the other characters I’ve created.
"It’s a fun story about some people, mostly from Glasgow, going on a cruise and what they make if it and how they all interact."
So, what can the audience expect?
"It’s a good Scottish story told with a lot of humour and recognisable characters in recognisable situations," Brian says.
Uh Huh: The Janice & Frank Story – Part 3: Cruise will be at the Oran Mor from Friday, July 21 until Sunday, July 23, with Sunday’s show taking place at 5pm.
You can find out more at oran-mor.co.uk.
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