Desmond O'Connor (also known as Des O'Connor) is an English ukulele-playing cabaret host and musical comedy performer. He is a composer and lyricist and musical director/co-creator for the Twice Shy Theatre.[1][failed verification]
Des O'Connor was a member of the Cambridge Footlights at the same time as Mitchell and Webb, John Oliver, Richard Ayoade and Matthew Holness.[1] After a year away from Cambridge, he became musical director of the Footlights at the invitation of David Mitchell.[1] At one point, O'Connor was a Latin teacher.[1] In 2010, he was a presenter for MTV UK at Bestival and The Big Chill.[2] In 2009, he was a composer, lyricist and musical director of Scott Mills The Musical for BBC Radio 1, working alongside co-writer Emlyn Dodd and director Patrick Wilde.[citation needed] Wilde directed the musical Failed States, written by O'Connor and Andrew Taylor, which won Best Book and Best Lyrics in the MTM UK musical theatre awards in Edinburgh in 2006.[citation needed] Failed States was revived this year[when?] for a run at St James' Theatre, London and at Latitude Festival, 2015, to mark the 10-year anniversary of the London bombings.[citation needed] He and Taylor also wrote the musical Toxic Bankers, which enjoyed an extended run at the Leicester Square Theatre in 2011.[citation needed]
Shows
O'Connor produced and starred in And the Devil May Drag You Under and Desmorphia which showed at the Brighton Festival Fringe in 2009 and 2010 respectively.[3][4]And the Devil May Drag You Under has also played in Berlin and at Latitude Festival.[citation needed] O'Connor has made regular[examples needed] club and festival performances in London, Dublin, Amsterdam, Berlin and New York, and at the New York Burlesque Festival 2008.[5][failed verification] He has a growing and loyal fan base.[5][failed verification]
In 2008, he was co-producer of the Ministry of Burlesque's High Tease during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and at Glasgow's Old Fruitmarket in December.[citation needed] In September of that year, he produced Fallen Angels with Julie-Ann Laidlaw, a show that has been subsequently produced in Berlin.[citation needed] With Laidlaw, O'Connor created and produced Vive le Cabaret at the Pleasance during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2010, which won Best Cabaret in the "Edinburgh Spotlight" awards.[citation needed]
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