Little Becky - The Young Irish Prank Caller

This Friday's blog I wanted to start with an "oldie but still goodie" audio clip. It's an audio of a young (8 or 9 year old) Irish girl making a prank call requesting to demolish her school. This dates back to early 2006 (can you believe it's been almost 4 years?), but many have not heard it, and those who have are sure to enjoy it all over again.

Rebecca Barry from Dublin Ireland is widely known as "little Becky." She was made famous with some of the prank calls she made for Dublins’s 98FM breakfast show. Show hosts Dermot Whelan and Dave Moore discovered her when she was just 5 years old and singing at her Dad’s office Christmas party close to the radio station. They consequently invited Becky to sing on their Christmas show, and started doing so from then on.

The prank calls started when Becky and her mother would go to 98FM's studio to record the calls that will be played the following week. “I sit in a room with my mam and talk to people on the phone. I have earphones on, and Dermot and Dave tell me what to say in my ear if I get stuck.” Says Becky to Irish Times journalist Róisín Ingle.

Little Becky has called a demolition company to help demolish her school, called a zoo, one about a driving test and a few others. Searching online, you can even find reports of her calling a wedding planner for help marrying her cat and dog, but the wedding planner refused to give permission for the radio station to air it.



By far, her most famous one is the demolition company one you can hear above. You can find this particular audio clip all over YouTube, but John T Edwards' site appears to be the source of her internet fame. It's also where you can find many of little Becky's prank calls, and even her TV interview on Irish TV show.  ▣

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