John Kearns announces national 2026 tour with 'Tilting at Windmills'
Winner of Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show and Best Newcomer and Taskmaster breakout star, John Kearns is set to embark on a brand-new UK tour with Tilting at Windmills. The 50+ date UK & IRE tour will start February 11 and run to 6th November 2026, including three London dates (two consecutive nights at Wilton’s Music Hall and a later date at Soho Walthamstow), followed by stops in Brighton, Belfast, Dublin, Glasgow, Birmingham, Liverpool, Cardiff, Nottingham and more.
Directed by Olivier winner Jon Brittain(Baby Reindeer, Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho), Tilting at Windmills is a fragmented, digressing portrayal of a 38-year-old man’s life, alluding to books he hasn't read, touching on the modern condition. Plus VAT! More allusive and bleak as ever, it is unreal the comedian you become. And for who? Decent craic with the right crowd. A show for those who have read about but not committed to the Guinness Nitrosurge.
Twelve years on since he first debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe, John is still the only comedian to have ever won the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show (Shtick) and Best Newcomer (Sight Gags for Perverts) in the awards forty-five-year history.
An internationally acclaimed live act, he has delivered his “richly, idiosyncratic comedy” (The Guardian) across the world, notably picking up three Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award nominations along the way. Over the past year, John teamed up with fellow Edinburgh Comedy Award Winner Adam Riches to become one of music’s most bangable duos in Ball & Boe, imagining themselves as the nation’s favourite power balladeers, crooning and clowning their way through a set both affectionate tribute and gleeful parody.
The show went on to enjoy a double run at Soho Theatre, a three-night sell-out at the Pleasance Grand during the Edinburgh Fringe and a host of 5-star reviews.
John’s last and solo fifth stand-up hour, The Varnishing Days, was his biggest and most critically-acclaimed tour show to date. It was directed by Olivier Award-winning director Jon Brittain, won Best Show at the Chortle Awards 2024 and secured his third Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award nomination.
The show was twice-extended due to demand to over 100 dates, with 17 sold-out London shows, including two sold-out Soho Theatre runs, multiple sell-out dates at Bloomsbury Theatre and two sold-out shows at the iconic Royal Court Theatre. The show was filmed and released as a special on Sky and Now TV in August 2024.
Tour tickets go on general sale at 10am on Friday September 19 with an exclusive fan pre-sale on Thursday September 18 for John’s mailing list subscribers. Full dates and tickets at johnkearnscomedy.co.uk