- The Observer,
- Sunday December 17, 2000
An Ian Paisley CD - which includes lyrics such as 'I'm the main man in the DUP, there's no Shinner fit to mess with me' and 'For a fire and brimstone bible tutorial/get your ass down the Martyrs Memorial/for when I'm in the pulpit there's no compromise/ and no bullshit' - has sold thousands of copies in the Province in the run-up to the festive season.
Accompanied by funky bass, drumbeat and sample tracks of that ultimate Orange anthem - the Sash - the rap is allegedly a homage to the Democratic Unionist leader, but is in fact the work of east Belfast-born comic John McBlain.
McBlain, who slips back and forth across Belfast's peacelines as quickly as he changes from Paisley into Gerry Adams, is about to be launched on television this weekend.
The 38-year-old impressionist whose repertoire also includes impersonating boxers Barry McGuigan and Chris Eubank as well as Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness now wants to break into mainstream British comedy.
The comedian along with London based writer Dermot Harrigan are putting the finishing touches to a new video featuring McBlain as Tony Blair, William Hague and the Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson for the British market before the general election.
In the darkest days of the Troubles the comedian would spend half the evening entertaining IRA supporters in republican social clubs before crossing into loyalist areas to impersonate the same politicians for hard-line Protestant audiences.
'I remember working on nights when there were massacres and bombs in Belfast. I would go into clubs where some of the killers and their supporters socialised and would have to entertain them by sending up their own leaders and politicians. But I always seemed to get away with it and I never, ever tailored my act for each side. I never had one set for the Prods and another for the Catholics,' he said.
McBlain's new slot on Ulster Television's Kelly programme, one of Ireland's most popular weekend talk shows, marks an 18-year journey from one man stand-up to national television.
'I used to get into lots of trouble at school for impersonating the teachers, for mimicking their voices, that's where it started. One teacher called me aside and said I had a talent. So I began recording tapes at home and selling them to my friends,' McBlain said.
The result was a series of tapes in the early 1990s known as 'Spittin' Politics' one of which included a notorious episode involving famous Northern Ireland politicians travelling to Spain where they get drunk and discuss anal sex on the beach.
The controversial comedian's worst scrape occurred a year ago when, dressed as Gerry Adams, he made a joke about IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands in a north Belfast republican club.
'One guy who was a bit drunk came up to me and threatened to have me run out of Ardoyne. But that's the only real hassle I've had. Since the ceasefires, people are more ready to laugh at their own side and not just the opposition.'
McBlain, a Protestant who grew up in the loyalist Newtonards Road area, said he is treated with as much courtesy by republican audiences as unionist ones.
One of McBlain earliest and most loyal fans is the Belfast singer and composer Van Morrison.
'I first met Van over years ago on a BBC show when I was doing my Paisley impersonations. Van stopped me on the stairs and said he was a big fan,' McBlain recalled.
Since then, McBlain has been on five UK tours with Van Morrison, including a warm-up act at Wembley Arena two years ago.
Among his other fans is John de Chastelain, the Canadian general tasked with overseeing the destruction of terrorist arms in Ireland.
During a recent function, which took place on the day the IRA announced it had opened a second arms dump to international observers, McBlain dressed up as Adams and marched over to de Chastelain offering him cash to stop inspecting the IRA arsenals.
But McBlain has yet to penetrate the national comedy scene in the UK.
'The time is right for me to get away from the parochial subjects like Paisley and Adams and do more national characters like Blair and Hague. So watch out Rory Bremner, McBlain is coming.'
Given the success of 'The Paisley Rap', the comic is planning a second CD single sung by the DUP leader's nemesis, Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams.
'The AK47 Rap' is due for general release in the new year and includes lyrics like: 'The AK47_ It's like a box of Pringles, once you pop you just can't stop.'
And while Paisley refuses to listen to McBlain's rap, the Big Man's son, Ian Paisley Junior is a big fan.
'He said he had all my tapes and CDs but that his dad won't listen to them,' McBlain added.
