By Amelia Boag McGlynn
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is a staple of the comedy community, and an infamously hard nut to crack – Connor Burns took it by storm. With a sold-out run, stacked reviews and an extensive tour on the way, Burns’ new show Gallus is a certified success. Before his performance at Aberdeen’s historic Music Hall venue, I sat down to speak to Connor about Gallus, chat about his creative process, and get an insight on his outlook on Aberdeen.
As a student publication, we don’t get as many opportunities to be involved in press days, so I was grateful to be given the opportunity for a live interview. This gratitude was paired equally with nerves, which were quickly squashed by Connor’s easygoing nature and assurance.
Unsure about how well-versed the Aberdeen student community was on Connor and his career, I began by asking him to introduce himself to us:
“My name’s Connor Burns, I’m a stand-up comedian primarily, and I also do a bunch of social media stuff. It is mostly just clips of my stand up, but I do some other stuff on there as well.
Really, I’m just a circuit comedian who grinded away for years and years, and thought that I had all this footage that I should probably post – and it was the best decision I ever could have made. It meant that I could actually build a following and I’m not off the circuit. Now I get to go on tour to my own fans, which is nuts, and a massive privilege.”
I commented on the scale of Connor’s upcoming Gallus tour. It is possible I’m rather jealous of all the places he is getting to explore. He assured me that, as much as there was excitement to be had, there was also an equal share of sad motorway Travelodges.
We then moved onto talking about Connor’s Fringe run. Working full time in an Edinburgh bar myself, I hadn’t managed to catch the show but have been a keen follower of Scottish comedy after working in the industry the last two years. I had watched his 5-star rated special Vertigo on YouTube a few months previously.
Connor spoke on his Fringe success:
“It was kind of awkward this year – the lovely problem that I had. The run of the show sold out so quickly. And usually, the 2-month run up to the Fringe is not my favourite, it is just the time of year where I am kind of a mess. Everything else in your life falls to the wayside, and you just need to have the show ready. My fiancé is probably the most patient person on the planet, because she’ll want me to do certain things, and I’ll just have this glazed look over my face, then end the conversation by asking ‘Hey, would it be funny if I said this next?’. She must just be like ‘Oh my God Connor’.
So, your life just turns upside down for a few months. Usually, I am really good at saying to my friends, even if it is sold out, just drop me a message and I’ll get you some tickets. I said flippantly to the venue this year, that apart from a couple dates, just release all the tickets, including production ones, which ended up in me having to say to family and friends that I couldn’t secure them tickets anymore as they were literally all gone. They probably thought I was being a massive diva this Fringe, but we had literally sold every available seat, which was just mental.”
A bittersweet problem to have as a performer! This discussion on his festival popularity led me well into my next question. I wanted to know how Connor would prep for a show like this, and how his creative process worked when crafting a show like Gallus:
“It has changed a lot over the years, and you kind of become a victim of your own success. I am absolutely not complaining, but as you grow as a comedian, you start to understand why the comedians you watched growing up weren’t putting on a brand-new show every year.”
Connor explained that once a show has finished at the Fringe, then been on tour, then been taken to the Australian comedy set, you only have a few months to write a new show for the Fringe.
Connor has visited Aberdeen before as part of his Vertigo and 1994 tours, and he shared the affinity he feels to the city:
“There used to be a comedy club called Breakneck, just off Union Street. The guy that ran it just took a bit of a shine to me, so when I was newer, Aberdeen gigs were a big part of me being able to go do shows and just quietly get good at stand-up. I got work off him like 2 or 3 times a month sometimes, and I went and made all my mistakes and got to be a bit shit but also learn. It was like my boot camp.”
Despite us not having a stand-up society in AUSA, I asked Connor what his main advice to starting out/student comedians would be. He had this to say:
“I think the best bit of advice I can give you is that the digital part of the job is really important now, but at first, just get stuck in, do the bad gigs. Do the gigs where there is like 7 people, and they’d rather watch the football on the screen beside you. Having a viral video is great, but you’ve still got to have a good show.”
We talked about the issue of political correctness in comedy and discussed how sometimes a great comedy show can be made up from just having a laugh and not taking things too seriously. Sometimes the best jokes can be made by handling a touchy topic with a lot of care – that is the skill of the job, and one that Connor does very well (see his social media).
I ended the interview with a silly question. I had seen some of Connor’s viral clips about Scottish accents, so I had to ask him where he rated the infamous Aberdonian accent.
“It’s not a great one, but I do like how it has the same thing going on as Edinburgh and Glasgow where you can immediately tell from the Aberdonian accent if they are well off or not! But I am not going to rate it super low, because I do like the Doric influence, I think that is pretty cool. I’m so jealous of those who can speak Welsh or Irish or Gaelic or Scots or whatever. So no, it isn’t getting rated super low.”
Connor will be in Aberdeen at the Music Hall on Friday 26th September at 7:30pm, and I highly recommend his show. A staple of the Scottish comedy community, and a lovely guy all round, he isn’t one to miss.
Great interview! Good questions that he obviously enjoyed answering.