[citation needed] Cornes appeared in three series of Blackadder, in two episodes of The Young Ones and as barman 'Dick Head' in the TV show Bottom.
He also appeared several times in the BBC Scotland sitcom Rab C. Nesbitt, once as a DSS Clerk and again as a barman in a Highland pub.
He played a major role as the harassed talent agent Dickie Valentino in the 1994 partially-improvised comedy film There's No Business..., alongside comedy duos Raw Sex (Simon Brint and Rowland Rivron) and The Oblivion Boys (Stephen Frost and Mark Arden).
Stage appearances include Ken Campbell's The Warp at the Liverpool Everyman, several roles at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond.
In a 2010 interview in The Times, Cornes was cited as one of fellow comedian Sean Lock's biggest comedic influences.