The annual Edinburgh comedy award has been won by the standup Chris Cantrill, two years after his comedy partner Amy Gledhill – in the raucous northern double act The Delightful Sausage – won the same prize.
Cantrill, ۴۲ and from Bradford, received the so-called “Oscar of live comedy” for a show, Rewilding, about his new life in rural Northumberland, where an act of vandalism shocks the local community – and a spoof whodunnit ensues. It builds on the foundations laid in ۲۰۲۴ by Easily Swayed, which documented his move to the countryside and secured what was then Cantrill’s third nomination (but first as a solo act) for the award.
Like Gledhill, Cantrill is an uproarious, fun-loving and relatable act with palpable mainstream potential, and his victory comes against the grain of an awards shortlist that (in both the best show and best newcomer categories) trended leftfield. The oddballs are represented among this year’s winners by Marty Gleeson, who has received the best newcomer gong with her show Dog Ear. This eccentric set is inspired by Gleeson’s experiences at art school in her native Limerick, and – with its live bodhrán accompaniment and setpiece that requires shaking the hand of every single audience member – marches entirely to the beat of its own drum.
For my money, I didn’t have either winner down as frontrunner for the prize, which is famously a star-maker in British comedy. Previous winners of the main award, initiated in ۱۹۸۱, include Steve Coogan, Frank Skinner and Bridget Christie, and of the best newcomer gong (introduced in ۱۹۹۲) Harry Hill and Sarah Millican. I had the Mexican-American comic Lara Ricote and the London-based, Chinese-born standup Li Jin Hao as the acts most likely on this year’s list, and still marvel that the buzziest comedy shows on the fringe (by Elf Lyons, the sketch group Crybabies and the Australian clown Conk) weren’t even nominated.
But I’m delighted to see Cantrill’s rambunctious comedy rewarded, after years of delivering big laughs to fringe audiences. And I’m excited by Gleeson’s arrival on the scene, and to see what she’ll do next. This year’s panel prize, meanwhile, which rewards initiatives that best sum up “the spirit of the fringe”, was won by One Joke, a new event asking “how many comedians can tell one joke each, in an hour?” Produced by Liebenspiel, compered by Jonathan Oldfield, and headlined by the comic Lorna Rose Treen, it featured contributions by ۶۰ comedians, and raised money for charity.
The organisers of the Edinburgh comedy award (formerly known as the Perrier), theatre producer Nica Burns and its new executive director Emma Brünjes, said that “in Chris and Marty we have two outstanding winners: both are exceptional comedians, writers and performers who have crafted wonderful shows”. The winners were selected from more than ۵۵۰ eligible shows at a festival claiming, yet again, to be bigger than ever, with just over ۴,۲۰۰ registered shows across ۲۹۹ venues. Whether the attendances were bigger than – or as big as – ever remains to be seen. (The sense on the ground was: perhaps not.) As winner of the best show prize, Cantrill walks off with £۱۰,۰۰۰; best newcomer Gleeson wins £۵,۰۰۰. BBC Radio ۴ will tonight broadcast a special showcase featuring nominees for the two awards.
