BURNISTOUN’S Iain Connell can’t remember much about his last visit to Greenock but he’s keen to make lasting memories with his new show in town next weekend.

Connell, who created and stars in the hit TV series alongside Robert Florence, is teaming up with his pal once again for Uncles, which comes to the Beacon Arts Centre on Saturday April 1.

The pair play the roles of the male relatives who are par for the course at family parties putting the world to rights over a few drinks giving ‘foul-mouthed guidance, as they know all the answers to everything’. 

Uncles went down a storm at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival last year and during a stint in London and now fans in Inverclyde can see the boys in action.

The show is almost a sell-out and Connell is eager to get on stage after hearing glowing reviews of the Beacon and the Inverclyde audience. He’s certain it isn’t his first visit to Greenock – but his memory is sketchy.

Connell said: “It’ll certainly be the first time we’ve ever performed there.

“I’m trying to think of the last time I was in Greenock and I think it might have been as long ago as when I was a student at a party there. It’s been a wee while. I don’t remember much about the party.

"We heard the Beacon is a great place to play and there seems to be a lot of comedy there, which is good. When you’re thinking about places a few people had mentioned to head to, Greenock is one because there’s a good crowd so I’m looking forward to it.”

Connell says there’s no new series of Burnistoun in the pipeline and that he and Florence are enjoying the thrill of being on stage in front of a live audience.

He said: “There was a special on around about Christmas but we’ve decided to focus on this. It’s good in that you get the immediate reaction when you’re on stage.

“When you’re filming a sketch you can film it and then it’s maybe not on the TV for six months so you don’t get that buzz of hearing people laugh straight away.”

As for the show itself, Connell admits most of the Beacon audience will be ‘taking a punt’ because they know him and Florence from TV but he hopes at the end of it they’ll remember the show for being Uncles.

He said: “People who saw it last year were probably 95 per cent who like Burnistoun so people came not knowing what to expect but audiences who have seen it have enjoyed it. 

“We’ve got one or two sketches up now and they are starting to get a sense of what it’s all about and hopefully, eventually people will be coming to see it because it’s Uncles.”