Daryl Peebles the writer of Shenanigan's Wake, BBQ and Aussie Rules the Musical ( all excellent for theatre restaurant also http://www.davidspicer.com/Plays-dp.htm ) has had the most bizarre encounter with a man the same age with the same name on the other side of the world.
Here is a transcript of the story which appeared on ABC TV news a few weeks back.
Have you ever typed your name into an internet search engine and been surprised at what you've found?
An American Minister, Daryl R. Peebles discovered that a man in Tasmania shared his name - and an extraordinary number of other things besides.
The two men have now met for the first time.
And as North America correspondent, Mark Sinkin reports from North Carolina, the whole town got in the spirit of things.
North Carolina is preparing for a very special guest.
Daryl R. Peebles has come all the way from Tasmania and he's getting a surreal reception... met by a man in a kangaroo costume and someone else dressed as a Tasmanian Devil.
The whole town's caught Peebles fever.
DARYL GRAB
"There were children waving placards and Australian flags on the drive up here from the hotel. I had to shake my head and pinch myself to see if it was real."
Inside the church, the Australian Daryl R Peebles finally meets the American Daryl R Peebles... two men who have lived a world apart but very close together.
DARYL GRABS
"My name is Daryl R. Peebles."
"My name is Daryl R. Peebles."
"I was born in 1949."
"I was born in 1949."
"I have 3 children."
"And I have 3 children."
"I had a child in 1975."
"So one of my children was born in 1975."
"I had a child in 1977."
"And my youngest was born in 1977."
"My father was in a small town."
"My father came from a small town."
"My father worked on a turning lathe."
"My dad worked on a lathe at the paper mill in Burnie."
The saga began 2 years ago when the American typed his name into an internet search engine. He soon discovered much more than an Australian namesake.
DARYL GRAB
TC 10.10 "Perhaps we talk a bit different some times and sometimes we talk like this, but no matter how much we talk inside we're the same - and that's a neat feeling."
Piece to Camera by reporter...
"By now it probably shouldn't be a surprise to know that Daryl R Peebles is an amateur magician and ventriloquist. And so is the other Daryl R Peebles.
They're planning a 2-man show and if it's anything like their shared history, it'll be remarkable.
Mark Simkin, ABC News, Graham, North Carolina."
Surely a booking of one of Daryl's plays in North Carolina is not too far off as well!