Connor Burns is one of the most exciting emerging acts on the Scottish comedy circuit in recent years. His meteoric rise through the comedy ranks since his first-ever open spot in October of 2017 has already seen Connor create and tour three punchline-packed solo shows. Hilarious, relatable, all-the-while served up with superb material, brilliant delivery and proper belly laughs, Connor is hailed as Scotland’s fastest-rising comedy talent.
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Remarkably, given his relatively short time in the industry, Connor has already made a considerable impression via his writing talents, with credits including material for Larry Dean on BBC’s Mock the Week and head writer and co-host of Tom Stade’s Dangerous Space, an immersive online comedy chat show.
Connor made his solo debut at the 2019 Edinburgh Free Fringe with Eh?, a no-holds-barred dissection of his own laughable life.
In early 2020, Connor had written his first full hour Edinburgh Festival Fringe show Loaded which was set to premiere a season at the Stand Comedy Club in August—before COVID-19 cancelled the Fringe for the first time in its illustrious history. Never one to turn down a challenge, Connor was able to quickly adapt his material and delivery to online gigging, guesting on numerous shows including two memorable appearances on The Stand Saturday Live Streams with over ten thousand people watching in real time from around the world.
In 2022, he toured Australia an unprecedented three times in a single year, and was even invited to tape a set in Sydney for the illustrious Just For Laughs Comedy Festival. His show Live Laugh Loathe had a packed run at the Edinburgh Fringe and Connor sold out his solo Glasgow Comedy Festival (GICF) debut at the Stand Comedy Club.
In 2023, Connor premiered his latest solo show Vertigo at the GICF, subsequently taking the show on tour for two months across Australia where, on top of selling out his solo shows at the country’s biggest comedy festivals, he opened for the international stand-up tour Daniel Sloss: CAN’T? as well as closing the Sydney Comedy Festival gala at the Sydney Opera House.
Having sold out five performances of Vertigo at the Glasgow Stand, Connor filmed two of the shows for his debut comedy special in June. Vertigo is set for future international release.
His 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe was an extraordinary success—it received universally rave reviews, including 5 stars in The Scotsman, and even before the press came out, had added an additional 2000 seats to the original run due to enormous audience demand. Without any UK television, purely based on world of mouth on his brilliant show and incredible stand-up, Connor sold over 4,300 seats in total at the fringe. As a result, premiere UK tour producers Phil McIntyre Live Ltd have put together Connor’s first big tour with Vertigo dates all over the country in the autumn of 2023 and throughout 2024.
Singled out in 2020 by online comedy magazine Chortle as one of their ‘Ones To Watch In 2020’, Connor regularly performs and MCs in the UK’s major comedy clubs as well as enjoying Comedy Roast battles. He was nominated for the Scottish Comedy Awards Best Newcomer gong in both 2019 and 2020 as well as being a finalist in the 2020 Amused Moose new act competition, just before the global pandemic closed down live performance. Connor has supported Larry Dean on UK tours, and also Daniel Sloss in both the UK and Australia, in addition to selling out his own solo shows in both countries.
Press Quotes
There is a great comedy talent at work here. The material is packed in like chips in a poke and Burns himself is genuinely likeable, with that straightforward delivery that reassures you there is a real person up there and that he is a great bloke… There is nothing he sets his comedic sights on that he misses&hellip he is fearless and it is wonderful… hilarious!
✶✶✶✶✶ The Scotsman
Brilliant… gags coming at you at a terrifying rate, with particularly eye-watering lines scattered liberally throughout. But what elevates Burns’ act is his sheer fearlessness… skilfully balanced and carefully pitched… he’ll go far.
✶✶✶✶ The List
If you want to see the future of Scottish stand-up, then see Connor Burns live—while you can still get a ticket
– Daniel Sloss
Just like seeing your favourite band for the first time, being at a stand-up show when you know they are about to hit the big time is an equally big thrill. And this Edinburgh Festival Fringe will be the chance to have that feeling watching local boy Connor Burns become the next big comedy act out of Scotland.
– Daily Record, July 2023
Absolutely cracking—Great material with fantastic execution… it’s clear that Connor is a comedian with a lot of potential
– The Stand
on tour
