Paul Black lands semi-autobiographical BBC pilot
- TikTok star Paul Black is writing a pilot for BBC Three about a man dealing with grief
- He explains: "It follows a character, based on myself, following the death of their father"
- The sketch comic recently performed at the 3000-seater SEC Armadillo in Glasgow
Paul Black has landed a pilot for BBC Three and BBC Scotland.
The sketch comic, who came to prominence on TikTok over lockdown and last month performed his live show Self Care Era at the 3,000-seater SEC Armadillo in Glasgow, is developing a semi-autobiographical comedy focused on the grieving process, "which we'll hopefully be shooting this year" he told The National newspaper.
"It follows a character, based on myself, following the death of their father" he said. "It explores how complicated grief can be, especially when you don't feel the way you're maybe supposed to feel about it. It's like therapy, exploring these themes through writing.
"If you can make people laugh while telling a story that might not be the most upbeat, it can be quite life-affirming. My da dying was probably one of the most major things that happened in my life, and it feels like a perspective that isn't the cliché perspective ... It's maybe not what people would expect from me."
Black previously made Pity Party, a 2019 sketch show pilot for BBC Scotland, in which he and his brother Mark reprised their popular online characters Courtney and her aggressive, working-class Maw. Others featured included obnoxious American YouTubers Ethan and Jaden who torment their elderly Scottish grandparents with cruel pranks in order to gain as many views online as possible and a young man named George Michael Jr, building up the courage to finally tell his gay mums that he is, in fact, straight.
Black has also appeared as his hipster influencer character gh0stbøy in an episode of BBC Scotland sketch show The State Of It.