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Accent is on having fun



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LESS than a year ago the verbal talents of Kirkcaldy-born Dunk Franklin were relatively unknown outside his circle of family and friends.
But now, more than 320,000 people worldwide have logged on to the internet to watch him in action as he humorously impersonates accents from across the globe.
What started as a bit of fun for accounts manager Dunk has turned into a phenomenon on the social networking site YouTube where users post home made videos for others to watch.
Dunk (27) is a regular on the most-watched videos list and has consequently been talented spotted by comedians who this summer invited him to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to perform in front of even more people.
"It's very weird to be honest," explained Dunk. "To think all these people have watched me is strange."
When YouTube began last October, Dunk thought it would be fun to post a video of himself impersonating British accents.
With a life-long fascination with the way people speak and how languages evolve, Dunk's coinciding ability to mimic a wide range of accents made for an easy post.
"I've always been able to do different accents," he said. "I used to impersonate teachers at school, probably to get attention - I am one of five children.
"But to think 300,000 people have now seen me is crazy. I thought about 10 might watch and that would be it."
For 11 years Dunk lived in Glenrothes - a former Newcastle Primary pupil - before moving to various locations across England with his Glaswegian mother and West Country dad.
With a distinctive Fife accent under his belt, he quickly adapted his speech to fit new surroundings. Last year he returned to Fife, to Kinghorn, but is now Glasgow-based.
He said: "As a child it always fascinated me how accents varied.
"I like to think I can still turn my Fife one on, but I really cannot do Australian. I have no idea why."
Dunk's accents have proved popular - and occasionally controversial - across the globe with streams of comments being left on his homepage.
He said: "One day all these comments appeared and I thought 'what's going on here?'.
"I used to just speak to the camera, almost like my inner most thoughts, but now I am aware lots of people are actually watching it, including my mother."
Dunk has been appearing alongside a host of stand-up comedians at the Fringe in 'Absolute Comedy Chaos' at the Hilton Edinburgh Grosvenor.
He was approached by comedy writer Lynn Ruth Millar and looks set to achieve more interest from further afield perhaps sparking off a career in stand-up comedy.
"That would be amazing," he said.

The full article contains 456 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
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  • Last Updated: 23 August 2007 10:54 AM
  • Source: n/a
  • Location: Fife
 
 
  

 
 


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