Scotland's rising TV stars tell how Glasgow International Comedy Festival is giving the nation plenty to laugh about

"You ever tried voice recognition technology? They don't do Scottish accents," complains Iain Connell, as he and Robert Florence spend agitated minutes failing to get the lift to move ("Eleven! ELEVEN!"), eventually succumbing to anger and bellowing "Scotland, ya bastard!" and "Freedom!" Upstart, self-deprecating and more than a little surreal, Burnistoun reflects the frustrated, alternative and, on occasion, cartoonishly aggressive sensibilities of contemporary Scottish comedy – assured enough to play around with stereotypes, yet still struggling to ingratiate itself with London-based commissioners.

Burnistoun has won critical acclaim on both sides of the Border, and found a wider audience through the iPlayer and internet – the lift sketch has had more than one-and-a-half million views on YouTube – but it remains a Scottish concern, moving from BBC Two Scotland to BBC One Scotland when it returns next month. "Burnistoun is made specifically for BBC Scotland," says Florence, "though I know people behind the scenes are desperately lobbying for it to go network."

A decade after the first scripts he and Connell wrote for Chewin' The Fat, Florence points to Gary: Tank Commander and Limmy's Show, both recent Comedy Unit productions for BBC Scotland, as evidence "there's a really exciting comedy scene up here just now, a good feeling that everyone's aware of".

The Stand Comedy Club and the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival, which returns this week, have been key to fostering such optimism. Gary: Tank Commander, Limmy's Show and David Kay's Radio 4 series Modrin McDonald: 21st Century Wizard all took formative steps at the now defunct Rough Cuts showcase at the Stand in Glasgow, a venue which also saw Frankie Boyle test out material for the counter-cultural – arguably excessively so – Tramadol Nights. Dabster Productions recently filmed a pilot of Live At The Stand, echoing STV's The Funny Farm and the BBC's Live Floor Show as showcases that pushed Scottish stand-ups like Fred MacAulay and Boyle towards the spotlight.

Florence, who was also a writer on Tramadol Nights, likens live performers to comedy's foot soldiers, at the sharp end of recognising and shaping tastes. According to Tommy Sheppard, the Stand's director, unprecedented numbers of wannabes are now seeking the challenge of his clubs' open mic nights. " "And I think at the Red Raw showcases we're doing (at the Comedy Festival], in conjunction with the BBC, the quality of acts is higher than ever too."

Now in its ninth year, the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival is Europe's biggest comedy-only festival. It has swelled from selling 22,000 tickets to 85,000, and offers a platform to upcoming Scottish comics who could be overlooked in the expensive, fiercely competitive crucible of the Edinburgh Fringe. For Susan Calman, recently commissioned to write a sitcom script for BBC Two, the festival afforded her "an invaluable" opportunity to perform a first hour-long solo show. It nurtured a young Kevin Bridges' big gig experience and his building of a sizeable Scottish following years before he was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, honing a style that saw him take over hosting duties on Channel 4's Stand Up For The Week last night.

Nevertheless, there seems to be a glass ceiling for Scottish talent. Greg McHugh, writer and star of Gary: Tank Commander, is hugely frustrated at the lack of feedback he's received for the sitcom.