John Kearns: Tilting at Windmills

John Kearns brings his new stand-up show, Tilting At Windmills, to Òran Mór on Wednesday 24 February 2027. It's a fresh hour from the London-based comic, who's a double Edinburgh Comedy Award winner, including the Foster's Best Newcomer back in 2013.

Tilting At Windmills is described as a fragmented, digressing portrayal of a 38-year-old man's life. It's the kind of set that wanders rather than marches in a straight line, alluding to books he hasn't actually read and touching on the modern condition along the way. It arrives more allusive and bleak than his previous work, so expect a night that leans into the off-beat rather than the punchline-a-minute.

If you only know him from the telly, you've seen him in a few different lights: bewildered on Taskmaster (Channel 4), terrified on Live at the Apollo (BBC), and appearing on Never Mind the Buzzcocks (Sky). He's also released the stand-up special The Varnishing Days. The critics have been kind to his particular brand of comedy, with The Guardian calling his work 'wonderful' and The Times saying it's 'as funny as anything this decade'. Others have described him as 'the most original, odd, off-beat and hilarious alternative comic to arise this decade', a 'jumpy and unpredictable raconteur', and 'brilliantly bonkers'.

It's a single-name bill, so the whole hour is his. The show starts at 6:30pm at Òran Mór, at the top of Byres Road in the West End (G12 8QX), and tickets are £27.50 plus VAT.