A CORK YouTube star is taking the internet by storm as stars like One Direction’s Niall Horan can’t get enough of his comic videos.
Comedian Cian Twomey from Wilton, who has 1.7m likes on his Facebook fan page, has received messages online from One Direction’s Niall Horan praising the clever clips.
Cian Twomey from Cork with his girfriend Emily who are the stars of a hit comedy series on Facebook. Picture: Dan Linehan.
Now, the success of the videos has allowed the 21-year-old to quit his job as a DJ and factory worker, hire a manager and embark on a UK tour.
And he hopes that the skits where he channels his alter-ego — a caricature of his girlfriend Emily — will eventually lead to television work.
“Cian fever” has also spread to band Kodaline and former Westlife stars Mark Feehily and Nicki Byrne. The Vamps also vocalised their fondness for the videos after meeting him at their live at the Marquee performance in Cork. However, the 21-year-old is staying grounded.
“I have an agent — David Anderson — who has become more like a friend. He is working with me on things like how to get sponsorship from brands and capitalise from the videos,” Cian said. “I’m also doing a tour of the UK soon. I’m not sure what will be lined up but it will probably involve something like a series of parties with fans around the UK and Scotland.”
Ironically, in spite of his Irish humour, the majority of Cian’s fans hail from overseas.“The majority of my fans come from the UK. “My Irish fans in Ireland only come to about 300,000. I’d eventually like to get into television but if I do it will probably be in the UK as that’s where all the work is.”
His best friend in the world is his girlfriend, 20-year-old Emily.“Emily is my absolute rock and I get so many ideas for my You Tube clips from her. We are really almost always together.”
He admits that with success comes a certain level of pressure.
“I’m constantly trying wondering about the next video and how I can make it better. The thought of doing stand up is something that really scares me. Lately I’ve discovered that I’m actually really frightened of crowds which is something that I’ll really have to work on.
“Right now I’m just focusing on the videos and I’ll soon be introducing a number of characters, though I can’t say just yet who those characters will be.
“I had initially planned to kill the Emily character off gradually but she has become such a powerful force and everybody loves her so I won’t be getting rid of her just yet.”