GLASGOW holds a special place in Brendan’s heart - as he got his big break there after a psychic told him the city would change his life.
After the first Mrs Brown’s Boys play toured Ireland in a sell-out run, he set his sights on the UK and chose the Pavilion Theatre as his venue of choice.
Brendan reckoned the Glasgow audience were the most honest and the Victorian-era theatre, which is run by straight-talking manager Iain Gordon and which recently up for sale with a reported £3.9m pricetag, was ideal.
And he was also taking heed of the tip given to him years ago, while he was working as a pub landlord, from psychic Doris.
But Iain wasn’t convinced, despite promises from the star and his business partner Gerry Browne it would be a sell-out.
Brendan writes in his new book Call Me Mrs. Brown: “He was giving us the brush-off. I made one last push. ‘I promise you that if you run this, you will take a million pounds at the box office. You will have at least one day when you take a hundred thousand pounds in bookings’.”
Despite his reservations, Iain agreed to put the play on for three weeks - and it was an instant hit.
Brendan said: “On the Thursday, when we arrived at the theatre, Iain was waiting outside of the stage entrance. ‘Here, you two,’ he called to Gerry and me. We walked over to him. He was smiling. ‘Guess what?’ ‘What?’ Gerry asked. ‘The next three nights are sold out; we did over a hundred and twenty thousand at the box today. You fellas were right.’
“Gerry and I high-fived and got ourselves ready for the now sold-out show. We came out of Glasgow with a healthy profit and Iain rebooked the play for the following October for another three-week run.”
It was also in Glasgow some years later that Brendan was approached to make the award-winning BBC sitcom based on his radio and stage character.
He was putting on play For the Love of Mrs Brown in 2008, back at his beloved Pavilion, when he was told a couple of ‘suits’ were there to see him.
One turned out to be Stephen McCrum from BBC Comedy who was resposible for getting the show from stage to screen.
And when he was asked where he wanted to film the show, there was only going to be one answer.
Brendan said: “The BBC had offered me a choice as to where I wanted to record the show. London, Belfast, Manchester or Glasgow. Without hesitation I selected Glasgow. (Remember the psychic? She had been right so far.)”
Call Me Mrs Brown by Brendan O’Carroll, published by Michael Joseph, is out on October 13, £20.
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