Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill decided not to record their new stage show because they claim the last one felt 'a bit flat' when they watched it back on a screen.
The Still Game: Live 2 show is on at Glasgows SSE Hydro from February 4-16 and Ford said: "We wanted it to be a theatrical experience and we felt when we saw the DVD played back from our last show that there was a third hand feel to it. It was all there but there was a flatness about it we were not entirely comfortable with when we saw it back.
Greg added: "This show is kind of unique in that it's the first time we've done Still Game where it hasn't been been recorded. All the TV episodes we've recorded are obviously on DVD and the original stage show we did at the festival in 1997 is also on DVD but this is uniquely theatrical and by the fifteenth of February it will be gone forever. It kind of feels good. That's how theatre should be. I know you can go to the GFT and watch a big production because people can't go to London and whatnot but I think theatre has to be experienced live.
"You can watch Kevin Bridges or Frankie Boyle on a DVD because you are used to seeing them live. It's them and a mike so it's not that much of leap to watch a DVD of them live but to watch a theatre show with lots of actors, you've got to be here."
The two actors who play Craiglang pensioners Jack and Victor in the comedy admitted there was a huge pressure on them to fulfil the expectations of their audience.
Ford said: "There is a huge pressure because everybody raved or passed comment on the last one and said they had a terrific time and a big part of the audience is repeat business who have been before so we've got to keep them entertained and surpass what we've done before."
Greg added: "It feels like a very different animal from the TV show but that has its own pressure and it feels like we are used to that. When the show was on, people loved it and there was the pressure to continue it at the level we were at and there was the pressure to bring it back after seven years and now we are doing the stage show again, it's got to be fresh and different and are kind of used to it and thrive on it .
The duo also suggested a new series of Still Game may soon be on its way.
- Posted with love from Scotland by theShowbizLion.com