A new character from Trish Rainone is racking up views online, with her comedy series receiving one-million views on social media<\/p>\n
Trish Rainone\u2019s latest character has become a social media star.<\/p>\n
Rainone, a Sault native\u00a0known for her work as an actor, screenwriter, director and producer, recently created the character of Jan Bouger, star of an ongoing social media comedy series titled Jan\u2019s Not Movin!<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone thought she was real at first,\u201d Rainone told SooToday.<\/p>\n
Eventually it became known that Jan is a character played by Rainone.<\/p>\n
Jan\u2019s Not Movin! centres on Sault woman Jan’s reluctance to relocate to Sudbury\u00a0to be with her boyfriend Dave.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe loves the Sault. She’s staying here. She grew up here. She loves everything about the Sault and she’s not moving. Dave lives in Sudbury, so they chat online, they send videos back and forth and they have a little thing going on but she’s not moving, so Dave might move here,\u201d Rainone said.<\/p>\n
She urges viewers to stay tuned to see what happens between Jan and Dave.<\/p>\n
Jan\u2019s Not Movin! reached a million views last week on several social media platforms.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s mainly on TikTok but there’s also a couple hundred thousand on Facebook, a couple hundred thousand on Instagram. There’s maybe 60,000 on YouTube,\u201d Rainone said.<\/p>\n
Rainone said Jan\u2019s Not Movin! views come mainly from within Canada, but the videos have also caught the attention of viewers from the U.S. and even one from Berlin, Germany.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople like Jan. I think there’s something funny there so I put her on TikTok to see how people would respond, and then I was blown away by the response,\u201d Rainone said.<\/p>\n
She invented Jan in April.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was doing online sketches with a comedy school in Los Angeles. I was coming up with characters and writing little things in notes or in script format.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a writer in the competitive show business world, Rainone said she\u2019s pitched a lot of comedy ideas that don\u2019t get picked up and made for television.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Jan, I thought \u2018what if I just start putting her online?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Rainone put Jan on Instagram at first, then TikTok.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really surprised when I checked Tik Tok to see there were views and comments, thousands of comments and shares and questions for Jan, and that led me to make more and more Jan videos.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jan appears beside Sault landmarks such as the large baseball at the Strathclair Park ball diamond and Porter the Train in Bellevue Park.<\/p>\n
She also visits local libraries and hands out\u00a0bookmarks with motivational quotes and messages on the back of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe’s been in a couple of videos speaking with kids, which is really, really sweet. She makes a wish at the giant baseball at Strathclair. Her wish is to sing on the stage at the Bellevue Park Band Shell. It\u2019s her big dream,\u201d Rainone said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought that’s a funny goal,\u2019\u201d she said with a laugh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought \u2018I’m going to give her a really low stakes goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dave is portrayed in Jan\u2019s Not Movin! videos by Bruce Stanfield, a Sudbury actor and friend of Rainone\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he does such a great job with comedy,\u201d said Rainone, who\u00a0produces new Jan videos daily.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s fun to play Jan,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I go out as Jan, I get to interact with people and then I get to see the comments on social media. It\u2019s a fun artistic outlet and a way to connect with people locally in a positive way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jan has become something of an alter ego for Rainone.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s a big contrast from when I put on the Jan wig to when I take it off.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve been at events where I’ve walked around as Jan and then the second I tuck the wig away and I\u2019m back in my Trish clothes, I\u2019m back to Trish the local mom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rainone is known for her work as an actor\u00a0in TV comedy series such as My Roommate’s an Escort and Pink Is In.<\/p>\n
She currently resides in the Sault and is a co-creator of the Sault Film Festival.<\/p>\n
Rainone said she hopes Jan\u2019s Not Movin! will eventually be picked up by a network and will run on TV.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat would be awesome,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Jan\u2019s Not Movin! can be viewed on TikTok<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, and YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n