‘The Ulster accent became known because of Frank Carson ’

It’s a showbiz cliché but in this case it’s true, Dan Gordon’s play about Ulster comedian Frank Carson, whom he plays with aplomb, is back due to popular demand.

After a hugely positive response last year, Gordon is taking Frank Carson: A Rebel Without A Pause, back on the road.

He’s dyed his hair black, grown some signature Carson sideburns, and is back starring in the whirlwind comedy drama celebrating Frank, the man and the myth.

‘‘It’s not a tribute show in that I just don’t do impersonations of Frank and do jokes,’’ says Dan.

‘‘It’s more a story of his life and the jokes are tied in and around; so I might tell a story about something, then I tell a joke about a plumber.

‘‘There’s certainly no shortage of Frank jokes, and it’s about revealing all these facts about him - it’s condensing 85 years into 90 minutes.’’

Carson, who died in 2012 at the age of 85, blazed a comedy trail for over 50 years.

His quick-fire gags and infectious laugh delighted audiences on variety shows on television and in clubs across the land – The Comedians, The Good Old Days, Seaside Special, Royal Variety, Noel’s Houseparty, Tiswas, and many more.

In 1976 alone, he did 41 network TV shows. He was Mayor of Balbriggan [twice], King of Blackpool, Clown Prince of Ireland and Prime Minister of Fun.

But there’s more! In this acclaimed one-man show, we journey with Frank from his Belfast boyhood - where ‘life was so tough even the arms on the chairs had tattoos’ - through his adventures in the army, and into the world of showbiz where he entertained royalty, delighted Pope John Paul II and never forgot where he came from.

Dan Gordon spent about three years researching Frank Carson’s life.

‘‘Frank left about 10 hours of audio tapes; he intended to write a book and he had a ghost writer, but she was English and didn’t know what we are like, so she believed everything he said.

‘‘She would let him ramble and he’d get to the end of a big story and she’d say ‘Was that true?’ and he’d say ‘no’.’’

Gordon is a huge fan of the comedian, but only met him the once.

‘‘We were standing backstage in the BBC where they were filming a programme with an audience about the shipyard, we were quiet because Jimmy Ellis was telling this story which went on forever.

It finished eventually and Frank looked at me and he said: ‘‘That shortened the winter’’ - and that is the only thing Frank Carson ever said to me, and I didn’t even replied, I just smiled.’’

He adds: ‘‘Frank was very gregarious, he loved people. I would so love to ask him about so many things because I possibly know more about him, in some respects, than his family now, because I’ve been through the personal papers that he left - it’s nothing terrible or anything like that, it’s just about how conflicted he was about certain things and how much he loved working in charity - he raised millions.

‘‘Gerry Kelly told me that someone rang into his radio programme abut a wheelchair they couldn’t afford for their youngster and they were going to do a sponsored event.

‘‘When he came off the air there was a phone call from Frank asking for the address. He sent the family a wheelchair, but the deal was, nobody was to know.’’

Frank Carson was born on November 6, 1926 to Josie, a housewife, and Johnny, a hardworking bill poster and docker.

One of five children, he watched Orange parades and a peaceful, pre-Troubles Belfast.

He was a cheeky rascal of a schoolboy and a teacher’s pet who loved grammar and arithmetic, but hated algebra.

Frank left school aged 14 and became an electrician, accidentally blacking out half of Belfast when he put his spade through the wrong cable - a crime he was ‘wanted for in at least six counties’.

Then he went on to plaster the ceiling of the Presbyterian church on Belfast’s May Street. A piece of plasterboard wedged in one of the walls in that church has a scrawl for posterity’s sake ‘Frank Carson plastered this ceiling’. Immortality on a plasterboard was soon eclipsed by comedic fame.

Carson left Belfast in 1969 to work the comedy circuit on the other side of the Irish Sea.

The grandfather of corny catchphrases and shaggy-dog tales got his first big break when he won the talent show Opportunity Knocks, presented by the veteran actor Hughie Green.

Says Dan: ‘‘On Opportunity Knocks there was no telephone voting - you had to send in a note in your own handwriting to vote for somebody; so Frank got a thousand envelopes and spent £25 on stamps - everybody on the New Lodge Road got two stamped envelopes and instructions to use different coloured pens - and Frank won it three times, week after week, after week - and that was him up and running then,’’ he laughs.

Regular TV stand-up slots and networking with all the comedy greats followed.

Carson led the showbiz life and gained national affection for his humour.

‘‘In the 1970s, when people started getting TVs, I think the Ulster accent got known for something other than the troubles, through Frank Carson,’’ says Dan.

Frank Carson: A Rebel Without A Pause, will be at the following locations:

February 2 - Island Hall, Lagan Valley Island, Lisburn.

February 7 - Millennium Forum, Londonderry.

February 9 - Portico Arts & Heritage Centre, Portaferry.

February 13 - McNeill Theatre, Larne.

February 14 - Strule Arts Centre, Omagh.

February 16 - Riverside Theatre, Coleraine.

February 21 - The Old Courthouse, Antrim.

February 22 - Ramor Theatre, Virginia, Co Cavan.

February 23 - Grand Opera House, Belfast

February 27 - Sean Hollywood Arts Centre, Newry

March 2- The Ardhowen, Enniskillen