Here Wee go again

EVEN when he'd become famous as the most popular ned in Scotland, nobody recognized Neil Bratchpiece.

- PAUL ENGLISH

Back in 2007, comedian and actor Neil become one of the country's first YouTube stars when he went viral as as Buckfast-swigging trackiesporting bam The Wee Man.

Now, 17 years later, Neil is bringing The Wee Man back.

Reflecting on that viral video, Neil said: "It was an odd thing. Fame was a thing that was happening to The Wee Man, not me. I didn't get recognised ever in those days. I would stick the hat on and folk recognised me. Then I took the hat off and they didn't.

"I would do stand-up as The Wee Man and people knew who he was from the video.

"Then I'd take the hat off and go to the bar and talk to people about the guy doing The Wee Man sketch and tell folk I didn't think he was any good.

"They didn't know it was me. I had fun trolling myself. It was a bit Fight Club" They definitely know who he is now - and if his new partnership turns out to be the success he hopes it will, then they'll know him even more.

Neil has teamed up with Scottish comedy legend and Rab C Nesbitt creator Ian Pattison for a new live show, reprising The Wee Man as a 40-year-old with hard-won wisdom.

"It's a 'Ned Talk' as opposed to a Ted Talk," said Neil. "It's a court-mandated warning to people against making some of the mistakes he did which led to him spending time at His Majesty's pleasure."

The Wee Man's resurgence has not only breathed life into the character, it has seen the videos of his wide-eyed wideo resurge in popularity to the point where he's now being asked for selfies by folk who weren't alive in 2007.

Neil said: "It's only in the last few years for whatever reason that I've had people come up to me and say they recognise me from the video. It's been recycled and shared so much that people now stop me to get pictures taken with their kids who weren't even born.