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Susan Calman looks for laughs in the poems of Robert Burns and his relevance to contemporary Scottish comedy.

Burns was passionate and patriotic about Scotland, its people and its culture but many of his funniest poems poke fun at Scotland and the Scottish psyche. The Scots’ ability to laugh at themselves and their misfortunes is a trait which resurfaces in the material of Scottish to this day. Let's face it, Scottish comedians carve careers out of self-deprecating humour.

Comedian and former Lawyer Susan Calman takes a look at the range of vivid comedy in some of Rabbie's most iconic poems and investigates how much the themes he was writing about over 200 years ago have stood the test of time and still make us laugh today.

From ‘Tam O' Shanter’ and ‘Holy Willie's Prayer’ to ‘Address to a Haggis’ and ‘To a Louse’, the programme features Burns’ poems recorded by some of Scotland's best-known actors: Maureen Beattie, Tam Dean Burn, Gerry Mulgrew, Paul Young, Alison Peebles, Richard Wilson, Roberts Carlyle, Alan Cumming, Crawford Logan and Brian Cox.

Those readings and many more are available on the Robert Burns pages on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ website.

Contributions from Janie Godley, Craig Hill and Kirsteen McCue, Assistant Director of the Robert Burns Centre at Glasgow University.

Producer: Esme Kennedy

A Scaredy Cat production first broadcast on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Scotland in 2010.