Always Be Comedy (2 shows): The Tommyfield pub, Kennington, London, 2017
Iain Stirling: U Ok Hun? X: Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh, 2017
Always Be Comedy: The Tommyfield pub, Kennington, London, 2018
Always Be Comedy (3 shows): The Tommyfield pub, Kennington, London, 2019
Iain Stirling: Work in Progress: Gilded Balloon at The Old Tolbooth Market, Edinburgh, 2019
Always Be Comedy (2 shows): The Tommyfield pub, Kennington, London, 2020
Always Be Comedy Online: 2020
Leicester Comedy Festival: Happy Hour Q & A Interview with Iain Stirling: Online: 2021
Always Be Comedy: The Tommyfield pub, Kennington, London, 2021
Iain Stirling: Failing Upwards: Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, London, 2022
Always Be Comedy: The Tommyfield pub, Kennington, London, 2022
Always Be Comedy: Sambrook’s Brewery, Wandsworth, London, 2022
Always Be Comedy: The Tommyfield pub, Kennington, London, 2023
Having become suddenly very popular as a result of being a voiceover on a reality TV show, Scottish comedian Iain Stirling talked about this to blisteringly funny effect at his solo stand-up show U Ok Hun? X at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017. Having seen a full work in progress show and a twenty-minute set at Always Be Comedy as well, Stirling launched into topics involving his television presenting experiences and about how he was being forced to face the reality of growing up. Stirling made the art of stand-up comedy look easy and was in total command of his ever-growing audience.
Stirling performed some new material at Always Be Comedy in October 2018 and March 2019. At the October show, before he appeared, I had crucified some more popular songs after getting up on stage to try and sing which the audience seemed to enjoy. As Stirling ambled onto the stage, he explained to the audience that he had nothing, and did I want to do an encore?! Thankfully, that didn’t happen, and Stirling then happily did produce a very funny routine.
When he returned to Always Be Comedy in March 2019, a new set concentrated on celebrity status which was hilarious, and Stirling made me roar uproariously and was very popular with the audience.
Being the voice over on the highly successful TV reality show Love Island, Stirling returned to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with a work-in-progress show for his new tour in August 2019 and then again at Always Be Comedy in London in September and November 2019. At Edinburgh, as we were taking our seats, Stirling sitting just off stage spotted me taking my seat and speaking into microphone asked how I was. I responded and as we were loudly chatting, the rest of the audience wondered who I was and who the comedian was talking to! During his hour, Stirling went on to relate hilarious stories based on fame, losing his shoes and his time hosting children’s television.
Stirling appeared at Always Be Comedy in March and October 2020 where he talked about having trouble with a pair of shoes and his experiences of going to the local gym. The hour was crammed with joke after joke that had me helpless with laughter.
In May 2020, Stirling appeared as a guest for Always Be Comedy Online. Delivering a routine for the virtual audience who were all watching from their homes due to a worldwide pandemic lockdown, Stirling had a natural gift for making any situation funny and really entertained the crowd.
I watched an interview with Iain Stirling for the Leicester Comedy Festival which took place online because of the Coronavirus epidemic in February 2021. Stirling talked to founding director Geoff Rowe about his comedy career, his highlights and views on the future of live comedy.
The comedian returned to Always Be Comedy in July 2021 with a new material show. Describing his experiences of becoming a dad to being the voice of the TV reality show Love Island, the show was full of quick-witted stories and routines that was Stirling’s trademark.
In March 2022, I went to see Stirling perform his new tour Failing Upwards at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. A brilliantly written show examining how people manage to be normal; subjects included his marriage and becoming a dad, his incapacity to function in public, the stresses of social media and the unfortunate incident where his shoes were stolen. He owned the stage and watching from the front, he was animated with pitch-perfect delivery and above all consistently laugh-out-loud hilarious. He headlined Always Be Comedy at Kennington again in April 2022, and also topped the bill at the new venue at Sambrook’s Brewery in Wandsworth in September 2022 and again in Kennington in February 2023 where he delivered hilarious new material, featuring a wonderful routine about fast-food restaurants.
An absolute natural comedian and a very endearing warm and funny man, Stirling gets better every time I see him on stage.
