Des McLean is a Scottish stand-up comedian,^[1] actor,^[2] and a presenter for radio and television^[3] from Glasgow. Billy Connolly has cited McLean as his favourite comedian.

McLean started working in comedy in 2000, and was a finalist in both the BBC New Comedy Awards and the Channel 4 programme So You Think You’re Funny?. In 2002 McLean made his debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with his one-man show Des McLean 5 Stars and appeared on the BBC series Live Floor Show. The following year he performed at the Glasgow International and New York comedy festivals.

While still hosting daily radio shows McLean starred as The Tin Man in the Glasgow Pavilion Theatre pantomime Wizard of Oz in 2008 and Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio in 2009. His flair for more serious acting won him the lead role in the theatre drama Two Tales of Love and Loss.

McLean's live stand-up comedy DVDs became top sellers in Scotland, Live At Glasgow City Halls in 2007, Talkin' Aboot Live in 2009, and Is This The Way To Armadillo? in 2010, his stand-up show at The Clyde Auditorium was recorded as a television special for STV.

McLean left Radio Clyde in 2010 and has worked since on television as a presenter for The One Show on BBC One. He has also hosted various STV programmes including Hogmanay, The Hour and Too Good to Waste.

Streetcast, McLean's comedy podcast, has also received rave reviews and his many YouTube sketches have over a million views. In October 2011 McLean completed a tour of New Zealand playing venues such as The Vector Arena and Hawkes Bay Opera House.

In June 2013 McLean performed his stand up at the "Top of the Riv" in the iconic Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas.

In 2014 Des McLean announced a new nationwide tour and released a live DVD, Des Mclean's A-Z of Scotland. He then took the production on the road in 2015, including a tour of Canada.

2016 saw Des embark on a brand new stand up tour, simply titled Des McLean Live. Then extra dates were added and the tour was extended onto 2017.

In 2019 McLean took The Glasgow Trip: Stand Up Special on a nationwide comedy tour, with fellow comedian Gary Little.

2020 and the beginning of lockdown saw Des create Comedy Club in Your Front Room with Zoom, an innovative, online comedy show which ran up to Christmas 2022. It featured acts all over the world, and was regarded by many as the best digitally based comedy production in the UK.

In 2022 and 2023, Des hosted the Des McLean Comedy Stage at the music festival Party at the Palace.

In 2005 McLean was sought by Radio Clyde to provide sketches for the Bowie at Breakfast programme on Clyde 1. He soon became the co-host on the breakfast show with George Bowie, with the two men winning Sony Radio Academy Awards in the Best Breakfast and Entertainment Categories. McLean recorded a series of wind-up telephone calls for the programme, fooling stars that included Sean Connery, Rod Stewart and Joan Rivers. The daily calls became a series of four top selling CD releases, The Best of The 8.10 Sketches. McLean went on to host his own comedy sketch shows Friday Night Comedy and Des McLean's Sunday Sketch. In 2020 Des joined Nation radio hosting the morning and weekend shows with Suzie McGuire.

McLean was brought up in the east-end of Glasgow and now lives in Robroyston with his wife Alison and son Harry.