Brendon Burns Press

On fire and Under Educated by Hope Robertson

Never one to be backwards about coming forwards, Brendon Burns brings his inimitable stage show to Glasgow with a one-off performance of new material, Under Educated.

Facing controversial issues head-on, the Aussie Comic’s recent Edinburgh Festival show, So I Suppose THIS is Offensive Now, for which he won The if.comeddie Award, saw him black-up, pose like Christ crucified and perch drooling in a wheel chair – and that’s just for the show’s promotional material.

Burns’ happy combination of barbed social commentary and brash observations has made him a fixture on the comedy circuit since the early 1990s. Having graced the Edinburgh Festival with his presence every year since, bar one in which he spent time in rehab for drink and drug dependence, Burns has built a steady career and a strong reputation.

Not shy to draw upon his own personal strife, Brendon melds self-deprecating sorrow with outspoken world views on socially contentious issues, from political correctness and race to infidelity and emotional neuroses.

Brendon Burns will be performing at Glasgow’s Maggie May’s on Wednesday October 19.

http://www.s1play.com/on-stage/editorial/1513.html

Brendon Burns

Maggie May’s, Glasgow, Fri 19 Oct

When Brendon Burns was nine years old, he decided that a career in stand-up comedy was the road he wanted to travel down. While in Texas with his family, he was snuck into a comedy club through its kitchen and watched as one Flip Wilson arrived on stage. ‘He was a black American comic, a very heavy influence on Richard Pryor,’ recalls Burns breathlessly. ‘So, black guy, Texas, 1980, with white guys in Stetsons everywhere. Flip’s opening line to the bandleader was: “if your daddy knew that you worked for a nigger, it’d kill him.” And the whole place was stunned silent because they didn’t know who was the target. They finally realised that the butt of the joke was their prejudice and they then laughed so hard. I remember just being caught in that hang time and thinking that I wanted to do that with my life.’

This August, Australia-born, London-based comic Burns provided Fringe audiences with their Flip Wilson moment during his if.comeddie winning show, So I Suppose THIS Is Offensive Now? It’s a moment that needs to be kept as much under wraps as possible with Burns continuing to perform his award-winning set over the next year, but for now he’s popping this way for two shows in one night as part of his Under Educated European tour.

Having ploughed away as one of the country’s most consistently brash, edgy and thought-provoking stand-ups with shows such as All My Love, All My Rage and Not for Everyone, Burns reaped the rewards of all his toil, with a collective thumbs-up from the Eddies judges. This, though, brings its own pressures. ‘I feel it but in a good way,’ he concedes. ‘If you’re someone who believes that everything in life happens for a reason, I would certainly feel that now. In the past I thought I was owed so much and was embittered about it and I could have turned into a complete arsehole and possibly destroyed myself. But now I’m in the right state of mind, and generally across the board in the industry, people seem genuinely happy for me.’

Fri Oct 19, 8pm, 10pm, Maggie May's, Glasgow, £10, 08700 600 100

Performing his only remaining Scottish dates this year since his if.comedy-winning run at the Edinburgh Fringe, Brendon Burns is in ear blistering form; a ranting, ingloriously sideburned sage undermining and provoking the smug in their opinions. He'll be delivering a little of his daring Festival show, So I Suppose this is Offensive Now, plus new material alongside some of his greatest hits.

This voluble Aussie has been enjoying cherry-picking his venues since his Edinburgh victory and will look forward to trading banter with curious newcomers as much as his confirmed fans. Chances are, you'll shortly see a lot more of Burns on television following his short-lived, disastrous stint presenting I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here for ITV2. The BBC has requested a pilot show based on Offensive and, at the same time, he and The Aristocrats director Paul Provenza are striving to bring a film project to fruition that began with the comic getting his Glastonbury crowd high on magic mushrooms. With a live DVD also in the pipeline, it seems that this stand-up circuit favourite is in real danger of troubling the mainstream.

On fire and Under Educated by Hope Robertson

Brendon Burns

Maggie May’s, Glasgow, Fri 19 Oct

Send mail to info@hahacomedy.co.uk with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2005-2009 Ha Ha Comedy

Please note: Most comedians are lazy incompetent sods, who can't read a train timetable, or would pay 30 pieces of silver to appear on a pilot for a radio panel show. Thus all line ups are subject to change.

Please check with the venue 24hrs prior to the show for confirmation of line ups.

On fire and Under Educated by Hope Robertson

Brendon Burns

Maggie May’s, Glasgow, Fri 19 Oct

Send mail to info@hahacomedy.co.uk with questions or comments about this web site. Copyright © 2005-2009 Ha Ha Comedy

Please note: Most comedians are lazy incompetent sods, who can't read a train timetable, or would pay 30 pieces of silver to appear on a pilot for a radio panel show. Thus all line ups are subject to change.

Please check with the venue 24hrs prior to the show for confirmation of line ups.

Send mail to info@hahacomedy.co.uk with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2005-2009 Ha Ha Comedy