Film Wise LA .com

Entertainment  in Los Angeles

Fred Burns  "Comedy Guru"

I walked into Dante's comedy class late, a consequence of being a single parent on a Friday night. Fred Burns was sitting at a table in front of the class. Though slight in stature his winsome, twinkley eyes let me know there was more to unravel in this small package. He sports brightly decorated crutches, his legs flop, but literally one of the sharpest minds in the comedy business.

  Fred managed  The La Jolla Comedy Store for many years. His insight to the business was invaluable to me as a comedy student. He picked up the two things that bothered me most about my act in seconds. 

Fred Burns has never let his disability affect his ability to make people laugh.

The 46 year-old comedian suffers from spina bifida. This defect occurs in developing babies when the spinal cord does not close properly during the first month of pregnancy. Like many with this disability, Burns is reliant on crutches to remain mobile due to a loss of sensation in his legs. Regardless, Burns maintains an active lifestyle as an entertainer. UH Today - Comedian overcomes disabilities, keeps audiences laughing

When Fred Burns comes on stage with his psychedelic painted crutches, you know that you will be in for a real comedy trip. His “off-the-wall” look at disabilities and today’s world in general has kept audiences laughing for almost fifteen years. Born with Spina Bifida, Fred knows physical difficulties but in response to the most asked question, he’s quick to reply, “I don’t know what it would be like to be able-bodied; I have been this way all of my life. To me, this is normal.”

Fred’s comedy began to take shape 15 years ago when a friend was assigned to do a documentary for his film class. Fred volunteered to be the subject for what was to be a ground-breaking video on disabilities. Entitled simply, “Fred,” the film won honors at the First International Disabled Film Festival in Munich, Germany and strangely enough, Fred found himself sort of a cult hero throughout Europe, Japan, and Africa. He still tours the world for screenings.

Returning to the states, he ventured into a comedy career which included club management and stand-up. He won the $10,000 Grand Prize on the new “Extreme Gong Show” and was awarded “The 1999 Norman Lear Comedy Award which is annually presented to the “Best Comedian with a Disability” by the Governor of California’s Committee on the Employment of Disabled Persons.

Fred is widely known on both the college and corporate entertainment and diversity circuits. His humor is sharp, witty and frequently compared to George Carlin’s. When someone says that Fred is “off the wall,” that’s perhaps the best compliment that you can pay him.

In 2007 Fred Burns got the last light. He will be missed always!

ABILITY Magazine

Home of Fred Burns

Stuck On You
A Farrelly's Brothers comedy about a pair Siamese twins who have their own everything but are joined at the hip because they share a liver. They use their unique gift in a means to gain acceptance and live as normally as possible within everyday life.
Stuck On You (2003/I)

© BWN Inc 2005
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