A few years later he opened a pub bang in the middle of two warring neighbourhoods in Dublin's Northside, which according to Brendan, 'was like having a pub between Beirut and Baghdad'. The pub eventually became enormously successful - largely due to Brendan's talent for entertaining the punters - but Brendan was left devastated when his business partner stole everything from the business and left him bankrupt. His mother Maureen died shortly afterwards. Desperate, Brendan went to see a fortune teller who told him she could see his future achieving worldwide success as a comedian and actor. At first Brendan laughed at the notion, but then he thought of how much his customers in the pub loved his gags, and decided to give it a go...This is the story of how a comic from Dublin surprised everyone - most of all himself - by becoming one of the most successful comedians in the world. It is a story of hardship, heartbreak, and talent and will remind readers afresh that sometimes the facts can be even more extraordinary than the fiction.