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Episode 16: The Coffee Song

I was in Auckland, New Zealand, and went into Circus Circus (a cafe there) to order one coffee for me; one for my wife and one for her sister. "Two soy latte and a trim cappuccino" I said. "Two soy latte and a trim cappuccino" said the girl. "Two soy latte and a trim cappuccino" said the boy. By the time I came out I was singing this song...

Latest News

The Burns Pageant, ‘Life, Love & Liberty’ which I wrote to be performed around the Burns places in Dumfries, has been taking the last three months of my life as a director. I’m happy to report it all proved well worth it, because of the reaction it drew from a capacity crowd that promenaded through the streets following the staged action and joining in the singing. http://www.avocadosweet.com/an-oberammergau-for-dumfries-pageant-brings-burns-into-the-sun/

No 1 Nostalgia Street

'Nostalgia for a Tenement' painted by John Cairney

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The First Photograph

I’ve spent a lot of my life being photographed. It is part of an actor’s job and I have never enjoyed it, not matter the skill of the excellent photographers who took them. Perhaps this reluctance to pose for a picture comes from the fact that the very first photo I ever had taken was by my uncle on the beach at Ayr. I was trying to get into the awkward swimming costume, a heavy black full body one piece, that I had to pull over my ankles and up over my shoulders. I was very young but old enough to try to be modest about it and was struggling with this when one of my uncles on holiday with us as part of the party got a snap of my bare posterior, much to the amusement of the others around at the time. I was mortified and pursued him along the sands as he ran off laughing with the camera. The resulting still was passed round so many hands that it eventually fell apart, much to my relief.

Seen From a Throne

Growing up in a tenement had its inconveniences but ours was mainly that the convenience was outside on the landing and shared between two or three families. However ours had a special luxury. If you stood on the lavatory seat and stared out of the window, you had a wonderful view of Glasgow. As a young boy, I was convinced that, in looking out that particular window, I could see the Queen Mary liner berthed nearby. Geographically, this was impossible, since this beautiful ship was docked in Southampton at the time. What I was really seeing was the corrugated iron wall of Stark’s Woodyard superimposed on the roof of the Wireworks with its poles, which in turn were seen against the buildings of Riverside School, which were set against the big, fat chimneys of Dalmarnock Power Station.

Robert Burns

As an actor, Cairney brings the work of Burns alive in a performance, which covers all the emotions, from joy to despair following the trail of Robert Burns from ploughboy to national bard.

As a raconteur, Cairney can draw on his experience playing Burns throughout the world to entertain the audience with anecdotes from these shows.

Art Gallery

John began his career as a painter and he has returned to this with a series of exhibitions of his work.

Around the Web

Cairney material from around the internet including archive footage, recent reviews, interviews and movie trailers.