Seán Burke, Irish comedian in London: ‘My accent goes a long way when I’m on stage’

Even if the jokes are good, if you look nervous people can tell you aren’t believing in yourself

Comedian Seán Burke says being Irish is both an advantage and a disadvantage in London

Tue Mar 17 2026 - 06:00 • 3 MIN READ

This article is part of a series about Irish people who are working in creative fields and living abroad.

Seán Burke

Comedian, London

The London influence is clear when watching Irish comedian Seán Burke’s social media sketches. Although he moved across the pond more than a decade ago, the material he shares with his 400,000 social media followers still retains a distinctly Irish tinge. There’s the “Two Jonathans” podcast sketch, where Burke’s versions of the Tipperary duo appear in tuxes with upper-class English accents and their catfish story is “served on a bed of potato dauphinoise”.

Burke, who grew up in Swords in north Dublin, describes moving to London as “beginner level emigration”, because the culture and country are so familiar. “It’s a one-hour flight away with a wealth of opportunities you probably wouldn’t have back home.”

When he left Ireland, Burke was just starting out in comedy (“it was far from a job”), making YouTube videos and dabbling in stand-up. Having seen a generation of Irish comics before him making their names in the UK, Burke decided to follow suit.

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Becoming a comedian in London used to be all about the clubs, but Burke has “a lot of irons in the fire” with voiceover work, podcasting (How to Steal a Penguin with fellow Irishman in London Joe O’Neill), writing, as well as stand-up (his “Yer Man” show is currently on tour in the UK and Ireland).

Within two years of landing in London, Burke landed a full-time job making comedy sketches about football for Dream Team FC’s social media channels. “In Ireland a job like that just didn’t exist.”

With more than 100 comedy clubs, from tiny casual venues to internationally renowned places that host household names like the Comedy Store, the chance for stage time is still the biggest opportunity that London offers over Dublin (where Burke says there are more clubs than there used to be). Even when he arrived, Burke could have had a gig every night of the year, he says.

“Stage time is so much more important than people realise [for a comedian to develop]. You learn to look and be comfortable on stage. Even if the jokes are good, if you look nervous, people can tell if you aren’t believing in yourself.”

Seán Burke has created a community outside the Irish circle in London

Being Irish is both an advantage and a disadvantage in London, he says. His Irish accent is a “big calling card” and he has “held on hard” to it. “I feel like the accent goes a long way telling jokes on stage – it’s a real advantage – in general people are very kind and friendly [to the Irish].”

Not all of the comedy he does translates, and he finds there can be “big enough differences” between the English and the Irish when it comes to humour. “Irish people enjoy English comedy but the English don’t necessarily enjoy [Irish-specific jokes],” he says.

“I would like to be more involved in the English comedy scene ... I can’t be so Irish specific all the time ... I’m somewhere between the two.”

This balancing act means Burke still gets work from Ireland: he makes the No Worries If Not sketch series for RTÉ, and writes for Oliver Callan’s RTÉ Radio and TV shows. He also does voiceover work. Ireland has improved as a place for creative opportunities since he left, Burke says, citing the basic artist income scheme as “the envy” of other countries.

With a French girlfriend, Italian, Turkish and lots of English friends, Burke has created a community outside the Irish circle in London, and enjoys the diversity. But he still has a “healthy group of Irish friends” in London who help to bring the craic that can be a “bit harder to find among the English”.

Seán Burke brings his ‘Your Man’ show to Dublin on April 29th while new episodes of How to Steal a Penguin are released every Wednesday.

Irish creatives abroad

Ireland is a perennial overachiever in the arts, such that when Oscar, Booker and Grammy nominations are released, we expectantly wonder how many Irish people have made the list.

We often posit on reasons for this creative Irish gene: traditions of storytelling, music and our language intertwined across generations of oppression, trauma and suffering.

At this time of year we bottle up and repackage this formula as politicians travel across the globe, connecting with our departed citizens and wider diaspora.

Why is it that so many Irish creatives move abroad and flourish? From acting to architecture, comedy to music and all that lies in between, there are Irish people in their tens of thousands forging paths away from home. Is it because Ireland as a small island simply cannot match the scale of London’s comedy and theatre scene, or LA’s major studios?

Or is there something more fundamental in the Irish psyche in which leaving the constraints and expectations of the island behind allows untethered emigrants to thrive?

Ahead of St Patrick’s Day, we spoke to six Irish people working in creative fields around the world, to ask what brought them to their chosen home and how their Irishness impacts their work.

Are you Irish and living in another country? Would you like to share your experience in writing or by interview? You can use the form below, or email abroad@irishtimes.com. Irish Times Abroad submission guidelines here.