Sneak Peek All-Star Edinburgh Fringe Previews, Paisley Arts Centre. Sunday 26th July, 2026

 

Two preview shows for a damned fine price. Connor is definitely the bigger draw. He's almost sold out his entire Fringe run already, including three shows at the 3,000-seater Edinburgh Playhouse. Chris's shows have yet to sell out for any dates.

Chris's show is called Father Christmas, where he intends to bring the seasonal ho-ho-ho's rather than regular ha-ha-ha's. Intriguingly, it is a show he can perform at any time, except Christmas, and it has been sixteen years in the making. It's your typical Edinburgh show. No spoilers here, though.

One laugh I could recall: At Christmas, the family like to play party games, such as charades. Every year like clockwork, his father would mime the same film by unzipping his fly - "Free Willy". He then tops the joke by revealing all the wrong answers they had prepared, such as "The Color Purple", amongst others.

After the interval, Connor goes through his set. 

For a show titled "Flow", it's far from finished, but it is very funny, covering the topics: the World Cup, Customer Service, the airline losing his case, his fiancée going to get her eyebrows done then getting her fanny lasered too. He also talks about willies. He closes on the story of the bloody haemorrhoids he experienced after moving in with his girlfriend during Covid. 

We saw his WIP for last year's Edinburgh show, and that was more developed than this one. Let's hope he finds his flow before the Fringe begins (but hey, that's the nature of works in progress).

Ticket Price: 2x£15 & £2.50 booking fee = £32.50 from OneRen.

Pre-Show Music
Belle Stars - The Clapping song

Wham - Last Christmas

Chris Rea - Driving Home for Christmas

Slade - Merry Christmas Everybody

After-Show Music

Joni Mitchell - River

Solange - Losing You

Interval Music

Annie - Heartbeat

Jessy Lanza - Limbo

Carly Rae Jepsen - After All

Le Tigre - Deceptacon

Blurb

23 Jul 2026 - 19:30 / 24 Jul 2026 - 19:30 / 25 Jul 2026 - 19:30 / 26 Jul 2026 - 19:30

Sneak Peek All-Star Edinburgh Fringe Previews
Don't miss your chance to see some of the UK’s best headlining comedians - off notes and off adrenaline! Comedy stars including Connor Burns, Craig Hill and Kai Humphries, Chris Forbes, Kim Blythe plus more!

Please note these shows are still a work in progress; there will be some strong language, and although they might not be slick, they sure will be funny!  Join us for a night - or two! - of uproarious and laugh-out-loud stand-up comedy.*  

Thursday 23 July 2026 - Kai Humphries, Daniel Petrie and Connor Burns

Friday 24 July 2026 - Kai Humphries, Daniel Petrie and Craig Hill

Saturday 25 July 2026 - Kim Blythe, Daniel Petrie, Jack Brookmyre

Sunday 26 July 2026 - Chris Forbes and Connor Burns

Age Recommendation: 16+ (no babes in arms)

Tickets: £15

*£2.50 transaction fee applies

* Line-up may be subject to change at late notice*

Comedy Sneak Peaks - Connor Burns and Stuart McPherson, Paisley Art Centre. Sat 12th July, 2025

 

It's telling when the blurb describes one of the acts as 'brilliant' and the other as 'award-winning'. While both were performing works in progress in advance of the Fringe, it was clear how vast the gulf was between the two descriptions. 

Connor opened the night, introducing himself and explaining the situation: both shows are still rough; they'll have notes; it may not always be funny. He then warmed us up with some crowdwork, finding some mileage with Clare and her meek voice, turning her into a disability scammer, skipping the amusement park queues and getting a free parking space near the venue; he also enquired if anyone was from another country, and my friend, whom I didn't know was there, sitting in the front row, volunteered that she was from Northern Ireland. Brave girl! One to speak to the comedian, and two, to sit in the front row (not her choice - those were the only tickets left). When she revealed what she did for a living - a care worker for people with special needs - Connor immediately thought she and Clare should pair up.  

Connor then introduced Stuart. My back was spasming whenever I leaned to see past the Wilson Fisk-like behemoth sitting in front of me, so I didn't often have a direct view of the comedian (with his Hugh Grant Four Weddings floppy hair). What I heard wasn't that funny. It wasn't anything special or interesting. Just stuff about his relationship with his partner. That might work for a club twenty, but won't cut it as an Edinburgh show. He needs to put in a lot more effort. But that's what these shows are all about. Learning what to cut and what to keep. He might need to return to the drawing board. (I suspect his shtick might work better as a low-key, BBC Scotland sitcom about families.)  

During the interval, I hobbled down the steps to chat with Andrea. My wife didn't mind. She got to read her book in peace. 

In the second half, Connor did his material and blew us away. He is more polished as a performer, has more interesting takes on his subject matter, and his gags are sharper. His bits about the Deep South and Trump's America showed off his ability with accents and impressions. His school tales were the right side of risque. The laughs kept rolling so hard, he didn't want to leave us, adding another routine then another, packing them in until it was really time for him to go.

I suspect Connor's Fringe run will be a great success, as will the subsequent tour. Stuart might still be with his girlfriend, or might not. I didn't really care. 

Ticket Price: £12.50 x 2 plus Booking Charge £2.50 = £27.50

Blurb

Connor Burns is a brilliant stand-up from one of the fastest rising new stars of Scottish comedy.
Stuart McPherson is an award-winning stand-up comedian, writer and actor, probably best known for his appearances in SCOT SQUAD (BBC)
Please note these shows are still a work in progress, there will be some strong language and although they might not be slick, they sure will be funny!

Stuart Mitchell "Tips Not Included" UK Tour 2025, Paisley Arts Centre, Saturday 5th April, 2025

This was my first visit to the Paisley Arts Centre since its revamp. We arrived at 7:30 p.m. for an 8 p.m. show start, expecting the doors to the auditorium to be open. The show was sold out, so the bar area was busy—too busy to get in. It's just as well the planners added that extra space at the front. 

Paisley Arts Centre

The auditorium, with its red padded seats, looked plush. The stage was on the floor level, the folds of the theatre curtain drapes catching the illumination. What looked like four light sabres stood vertically across the back. No Force battles occurred during the performance, so they must have been there as decoration.

Stuart announced himself and did crowd work for the first twenty minutes. He peppered this with a few jokes to keep us amused, but his interactions failed to hit comedy gold. Then, after the interval, he returned to deliver his prepared material. 

I was disappointed that he didn't have a support act. I suppose, as it was his debut hour, he wanted to keep the box office for himself. The show itself was okay, with lots of funny lines. In Edinburgh terms, you'd call it his Dead Parents' hour. He explained how he came to lose his finger tips, how his mum had killed herself and how he lost his dad to cancer. He also nearly lost his wife, too, before their wedding when an ovarian cyst burst, leading to her developing a systemic infection. 

I'd heard some of his material before, during his Christmas show. I felt his delivery tonight wasn't totally smooth, and I noticed he repeated one punchline, inserting it later in the correct place. It's early in the run, though, so he can be forgiven for the odd fluff. Given the dark subject matter, he could have enhanced the comedic responses by playing more with the emotional weight of the tragedies. But then, he admits he's no actor, despite once playing Bible John in an ITV show. 

He killed then, but not so much tonight. It was acceptable as a debut show for a club comic. Perhaps my expectations were too high.

Ticket Price:
2 Full Price Tickets £20.00 x2 = £40.00
Per Item Fees £2.00 (Service Charge Full Price Ticket) x2 £4.00
Order Processing Fees Handling Fee £1.35
Total: £45.35 from Ticketmaster