News / TikTok
The Bristol electrician lighting up TikTok
When you think of viral content creators, an electrician isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.
Yet Bristolian Lawrence Brown is teaching millions tips and tricks about electrical work and safety using TikTok and Instagram under the name ‘Bristol Sparky’.
Lawrence became an electrician by accident; he was working at Tesco and applying to the police force when a friend offered him an apprenticeship as an electrician.
The ‘Bristol Sparky’ started making videos as a way to promote his business, but his tips, tricks and tool recommendations are now being used far beyond Bristol. People from all over the world follow and comment on his videos. He has over 40 thousand followers on TikTok and his most viewed video has been seen over four million times. If that wasn’t enough, he’s on YouTube, too.
Talking to Bristol24/7, Lawrence said: “It’s mad. Every day I’m perplexed at how my little old Bristol boy content can generate such a large audience even on the other side of the world.
“I started making videos out of boredom. I used to always have an apprentice with me, but then when I was made redundant and started working for myself, I suddenly had no one to talk to. So I started making videos of my work to pass the time.”
It seems that filming videos and sharing content doesn’t distract him from his work too much either, as evidenced by his many 5 star reviews on Google.
As for his internet fame, Lawrence isn’t too phased. “I’m pleased that people enjoy watching the videos but to be honest, I don’t really mind whether one person sees it or one thousand. I take pride in the work I do, and I will continue to do that – the videos are just an extra bonus.”
If you’d like to get in touch with Lawrence, he advises using smoke signals or sending a message through his Instagram page, @bristolsparky.
Main photo: Meg Houghton-Gilmour
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