ONCE upon a time, two complete chancers from Dublin, a waiter and a milkman, got together and decided they'd set themselves up as a musical comedy act, determined to storm showbiz.

Twenty four years later, the waiter is now an international comedy star and set to make at least £50m in the next two years.

And the milkman? He's appearing at the Pavilion Theatre in the return of Celts In Seville.

The waiter is Brendan O'Caroll, whose Mrs Brown phenomenon is a worldwide hit.

And the milkman is his one-time best friend Gerry Browne, whose Dublin showband will provide the Irish authenticity in the return of the football-linked musical comedy.

But how could the Gerry/Brendan relationship have created such contrasts in fortune?

Gerry Browne didn't know he was walking away from a multi-million pound fortune back in 1999, although the signs were there.

The pair had come up with a touring comedy act that stormed Ireland, they had a massive radio sitcom, Anjelica Huston had directed and starred in a movie, Agnes Browne, based on Brendan O'Carroll's book The Mammy, and the first Mrs Brown theatre show had taken to the stage - with Gerry starring as camp son Dino.

But Gerry simply had to get off the carousel.

"We'd actually made two movies at the same time, the other being a boxing film called Sparrow's Trap," the writer/performer explains. "And we'd put all our own money into it and borrowed so much more.

"But the process bankrupted us and I couldn't handle it. And I felt really bad for those who had invested with us. The pressure got to me."

Brendan was always determined to fly towards the sun, and like Icarus was burned on several occasions.

The Sparrow's Trap movie was one of the flights of fancy that didn't pay off. It put Gerry and Brendan's company £2.2m in debt.

"One of the Sparrow's Trap investors, for example, lost all his money and turned up at my door one morning, just as I was getting my son ready for school. The man demanded £10,000. To make his point abundantly clear he shoved a gun in my face."

Gerry, after some time, managed to calm the man down and he walked away. However, the performer, who had built a beautiful home in the picturesque village of Ashbourne with wife Collette, had had enough.

He reckoned his health and his relationship with his wife and two kids was paramount. He'd watched Brendan's marriage break up and didn't want his to go the same way.

But at the time Gerry split with Brendan, the pair, who had been almost blood brothers, were no longer friends.

They grew up in the north Dublin village of Finglas, both part of huge families (11 on Brendan's side and Gerry had 10 brothers) but as kids they were adversaries, coming from opposite ends of the village.

But years later, when Brendan opened a pub near the village, Gerry and his showband Tinker's Fancy became regular performers and the pair became great pals.

When the pub business crashed in 1990, it was Gerry who encouraged the naturally funny Brendan to take to the comedy stage. Brendan and Gerry's Outrageous Comedy Show became hugely popular, touring Ireland and England, and the pair wrote together for the act.

They even released an album of parody songs, Yer A Sick Man, Da, which attracted major radio airplay.

In 1992, Gerry helped Brendan develop characters for a radio sitcom, Mrs Brown's Boys; Brendan starred, and Gerry played Dino in the show, the part now played in the BBC sitcom by Gary Hollywood. This was despite the fact neither of the pair had ever acted before.

Over the next few years, the pair worked on a television series together and Gerry also featured in Brendan's first theatre play, The Course, which became Dublin's most successful play ever, until overtaken years later by the first Agnes Brown play.

But theirs was far more than a working relationship. They lived out of each other's pockets.

In the early days they shared hotel beds to save money. And when they could afford to, they holidayed together with their wives, who were also best friends.

And indeed the pair became so close Brendan dedicated his first book The Mammy to his chum with the line; 'To Gerry Browne; A man I care about. And one who cares about me.'

It was Gerry Browne who was dispatched to Glasgow to convince Pavilion boss Iain Gordon his theatre was the perfect home for Agnes and co. And he did. And the move would set Brendan and co on the road to fame and fortune.

But the pressures of constant movement, the circus lifestyle, the highs and lows became too great for Gerry. Even though by this time the first Mrs Brown stage show had stormed Dublin Gerry walked away - and back to life as a local musician.

"And I've been happy since," he says. "Sure, it was great to appear on stage, and meet the showbiz stars, but I'd had enough of it all. I decided it was time to break away.

"I'm certainly not rich, but I've got a great family and I love what I do. In many ways, I feel blessed."

The pair have only exchanged a brief 'hello', at the wedding of Gerry's cousin, Bugsy O'Neill, who plays Grandad in the Mrs Brown series, last year in Dublin.

"You can never tell how things will turn out," says Gerry, cryptically.

But he is far from unhappy about his own life and career. His showband is in constant demand, he still releases critically acclaimed records and he's written a new play, Mither of the Bride, which is set to premiere at the Pavilion next year.

"It's all turned out great for me," he says. "I make enough to enjoy myself, I've got a great family and I get to do what I want.

"How can I have regrets about a life like this?"

l Celts In Saville, the Pavilion Theatre, until April 12.