Scots comedy legend Karen Dunbar heading to Lanarkshire for series of shows

Daily Record

5 days ago

This is a brand-new show for 2025, and it sees Karen sharing stories from her life and talking about her career, with – as you would expect from a stalwart of the Scottish comedy scene – a heap of humour and jokes.
Comedian, actor, writer, DJ, and star of Chewin' The Fat, Karen Dunbar is set to embark on a brand-new tour which includes several shows in North and South Lanarkshire.
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This is a brand-new show for 2025, and it sees Karen sharing stories from her life and talking about her career, with – as you would expect from a stalwart of the Scottish comedy scene – a heap of humour and jokes.
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This is Karen's fourth tour with Aberdeen-based promoters, Breakneck Comedy, since 2023, and as Breakneck Comedy founder, Naz Hussain, explains, it's their most ambitious to date.
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He said: 'This is the biggest tour we've ever organised, and I'm delighted that we're working with Karen for it. This is a big year for Breakneck Comedy – it's our fifteenth anniversary and to be able to deliver such a huge tour for such a well-loved Scottish act is the icing on the cake.
'Anyone who's been to one of Karen's shows before will know that it's a great night of laughs, jokes, stories, and anecdotes from her career, covering everything from her time on Chewin' The Fat, right through to her latest adventures as a DJ.
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'This is a brand-new show for 2025, and the fact that Karen has so many fresh new stories to share is testament to her talent as a comedian, and her amazing career.'
Karen began her career as a DJ and karaoke host before she attended The Comedy Unit's open auditions in 1997 where she was cast in the BBC Scotland comedy sketch show Chewin' the Fat.
Karen played a host of instantly recognisable characters including the Lonely Shopkeeper and the Depressed Taxi Caller.
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She starred in The Karen Dunbar Show, which received two Golden Rose nominations for Best Comedy Show and Karen herself two personal nominations for Best Comedy Performance.
As a comedy actress, she has also tackled serious roles, most including a performance in the poetic monologue A Drunk Woman Looks at the Thistle adapted by Denise Mina from Hugh MacDiarmid's poem of the same name.
In 2014, she was lead compère at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony held in Glasgow alongside John Barrowman and Des Clarke. Karen sang and performed a showcase of Scottish culture, inventions and places during the broadcast, which reached a global audience of 1.5 billion people.
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Breakneck Comedy is renowned for bringing top comedians and performers to towns and venues that might not be on the usual tour schedule.
'I love bringing big names to towns that some promoters might overlook,' said Naz.
'It's really exciting to be able to put on shows all over Scotland and make it easier for people to be able to enjoy a great night of comedy and entertainment without them having to worry about catching a train home from the city.'
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Karen will be playing Motherwell's South Dalziel Historic Building on Friday, September 19, at 8.30pm; East Kilbride Village Hall Friday, October 3, at 8pm; Airdrie Town Hall on Saturday, October 4, at 6pm; the Hamilton Function Rooms on Friday, October 17, at 8.30pm and Carluke Masonic Hall on Saturday, November 15, at 8.30pm.
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