“a brilliant natural comedian…” - Edinburgh Evening News

Paul Pirie is a confused soul. Having swapped one set of boards for another after giving up his first love acting to unleash his inner funny man as a fully-fledged stand-up comedian, the proud Scot now finds himself living in darkest, deepest Essex of all places.

Born in Dundee, Paul Pirie made the switch from acting to comedy in April 2004 in a bid, so the story goes, to improve his housing prospects, having just found himself living with his Nan after losing his flat in a pub quiz.

Less than six years down the line and Paul Pirie has not only mastered the art of making people laugh but is fast emerging as one of the brightest stars in a new generation of British comedians.

Sometimes billed as the “Dundonian master of mirth” north of the Border as if entering a boxing ring – and sometimes the atmosphere and venue felt like one too – Paul Pirie is the latest henchman in a growing Scottish mafia of stand-ups threatening to take the UK and Europe by storm.

In oversize jacket, Jarvis Cocker glasses, spikey haircut and with a stoop Johnny Rotten would be proud of, Paul could easily be mistaken for the bass player in any of a number of “next big thing” indie janglers - or even Dennis Pennis’ non-ginger brother.

It certainly helped net him a role, alongside almost every young Scottish actor or comedian in the business, in Channel 4’s cult musical comedy The Young persons Guide To Becoming a Rock Star. And it doesn’t seem to be doing him any harm as a stand-up comedian either.

Filling the stage better than he does those suits, Top Scottish Stand-up Paul Pirie fizzes like a shaken up bottle of Iron Bru and uses every last drop of that energy to full effect, combining an impressive physical performance with a superb delivery.

In a set that seamlessly covers the whole spectrum from silly to bitchy and all humorous points in between, one reviewer wrote: “You’re never more than a line away from a great pun or punchline”. You don’t get many better tag lines than that.

Mixing intelligent insights and observation with quality performance comedy, clearly honed in his acting days, as demonstrated by his inspired incarnation as a bolshie, mothering  toddler, it is all delivered with an intensity and ferocity that sets the great comedian apart from the average.

But then Paul Pirie has always been good. Within months of taking the comedy plunge Paul was performing at the 2004 Glasgow Comedy Festival and its more prestigious and, some would say, sophisticated elder sibling in Edinburgh with a show called “Rehab’s for Quitters” where he first teamed up with comedy partner Keir McAllister.

The following year he repeated the Scottish comedy festival double as one of the key performers and writers in the brilliantly named stand-up/sketch show Scotland 4 Australia 1 which took all the plaudits in Glasgow and was later named as one of the highlights of Edinburgh 2005 following a sell-out run at the Underbelly. A comic workaholic, Paul also found time to join McHardie in hosting own late night comedy show in between the group gigs at the same festival.

In 2005, Paul Pirie had also joined the ground-breaking and, most importantly, popular comedy-improvisation group Dance Monkey Boy, Dance!, alongside Raymond Mearns among others. In 2006, “The Dance Boys” caught the attention of BBC Radio who recorded a show at the Glasgow Comedy Festival. It was the start of a beautiful friendship which has seen Dance Monkey Boy, Dance! Go on to develop further regular radio shows under the watchful eye of the BBC.

2006  was also the year Paul’s hard work received national recognition when he was named as runner-up in Scottish Comedian of the Year awards. He was also once again covering all bases on the Scottish comedy festival circuit, appearing alongside other comedians in the sold out Four Men and a Little Lady, in Glasgow, and joining Keir McAllister in Dare You Seesaw.
It also gave him the confidence to branch out on his own in 2007, with his first festival solo show, I Pirie the Fool, which again garnered some wonderful reviews and brought him to the attention of comedy bigwugs south of the border and beyond.
Since this time Paul Pirie grew up a little and now lives in Essex, (where his better half keeps the keys), and is making himself well known on the English Comedy Circuit.
Once described as a hilarious rubber faced clown. Scottish stand-up Paul Pirie appears regularly as the Headline Act, Main Support or Compere at The Stand in Glasgow and Edinburgh, Ha Ha Comedy, Just Laugh and Mirth Control as well as other various venues throughout Scotland and England. Currently Paul Pirie appears regularly at: The Comedy Club (venues nationwide), Fymfyg in London, Bristol Jesters, Komedia, Comedy Café, and the Big Night Out comedy clubs in and around London as well as The Stand in Glasgow and Edinburgh, plus many more.

• Close (BBC Radio Scotland)

WHAT THE CRITICS SAID

• "…a most impressive physical comedian…" - Chortle
• "…a hilarious rubber faced clown…" - The Scotsman
• "Fizzing with energy and spewing out one-liners like he had just scoffed a dodgy prawn, Pirie is a man we will be seeing more of" - Daily Record
• "His delivery is superb" - Chortle
• "a class act" - Herald
• "Supremely clever and very entertaining" - Shetland Today
• "…he has 'comedian' written all over him" - Chortle
• "His clowning and quick fire gags will win him fans and his physical mannerisms have a touch of Eric Morecambe" - Daily Record
• **** (Edinburgh Festival 2005) - Three Weeks
• "fast-talking" - Daily Record
• "…the excellent Paul Pirie…" - music OMH.com
• ****(Edinburgh Festival 2006) - Edinburgh Guide
• "…a brisk, energetic delivery. A fine act, for sure." - Chortle.co.uk
• "…inherently funny Paul Pirie…" - Edinburgh Guide
Gig History (to mention but a few):
• The Stand - (Edinburgh and Glasgow)
• Jongleurs - (Glasgow)
• The Big Scottish Comedy Tour (The Stand, Dunkeld, Falkirk, Inverness, Craignish, Skye, Peebles, 2007)
• Mirth Control (various)
• Don't Mention the Floods Comedy ( Carlisle, 2007)
• BBC Warm Up Act (Margaret Anne Docherty - Glasgow, 2007)
• Cheeky Monkey (Birmingham, 2007)
• Funny Bones Comedy (Newcastle and Hartlepool, 2007)
• The Outsider Festival - (Aviemore, 2007)
• Dance Monkey Boy, Dance! Theatre Tour (2007/8)
• Ha Ha Comedy Clubs - (Ayr, Dumfries, Dundee, Falkirk, Forfar, Galashiels, Glasgow, Helensburgh, Lanark)
• Universal Comedy (various)
• Dance Monkey Boy, dance! (Glasgow & Edinburgh)
• I Pirie the Fool - (Solo Show, Glasgow Comedy Festival 2007)
• Motherwell Theatre - (2007)
• Just Laugh - (Stirling, Perth, Dundee)
• Capital Comedy Club - (various Scottish venues)
• In your Face Comedy Club - (Coatbridge, Ayr)
• Scotland 4 Australia 1 - (unfortunately)
• Four Men and a Little Lady - (Glasgow Comedy Festival 2006)
• Heriot Watt and Strathclyde Universities
• Best Of Scottish - (Leith Festival)
• Best Of Scottish - (Edinburgh Festival)
• Short Tour of the Highlands - (Hootenannys and The Loft, Forres)
• Falling for Grace - (Edinburgh Fringe 2006)
• Scottish Comedian of the Year - (The Old Fruitmarket 2006)