The winners of the 2024 Edinburgh comedy awards have been revealed, with a double win for Yorkshire as Hull’s Amy Gledhill was awarded the Don and Eleanor Taffner best comedy show, and Huddersfield’s Joe Kent-Walters named the DLT Entertainment best newcomer.
“Yorkshire ‘til we die!” said the pair, who studied theatre and performance at the University of Leeds, shortly after the ceremony.
“I feel like I’m in a coma and I’m about to be woken up,” said Gledhill, who was on the nominees’ list for the fourth time this year after receiving nods for her first solo show and twice as part of comedy duo the Delightful Sausage.
Nica Burns, the director of the Edinburgh comedy awards, said: “Our two winners this year share one thing: funny bones. They have a gift for comedy and have honed how best to use it. Their comedy speaks to everyone – they are both clearly on their way to major stardom. I predict in a few years’ time they will be household names.”
Gledhill took home the main prize for Make Me Look Fit on the Poster, a show exploring self-esteem. The Guardian’s Brian Logan described it as “blunt northern mockery and good cheer … a delightful hour of standup”.
Burns said: “It is a show packed with jokes and so much heart that everyone in the audience falls utterly in love with her.”
Gledhill, who praised the other half of Delightful Sausage and fellow nominee Chris Cantrill in her acceptance speech, said she did not expect to win: “Not even a percent, to the extent that I was very relaxed the whole day, couldn’t wait to hear the speech of whoever won. The only downside, there’s not been that many people who’ve been nominated five times. But my journey has ended, four and out, I’m done!”
In his debut show, Joe Kent-Walters is Frankie Monroe: LIVE!!!, the best newcomer winner took to the stage in character as a sinister working-men’s club proprietor who’s made a deal with the devil to keep his establishment open. Kent-Walters, who also won last year’s BBC new comedy award had a successful run, with his late-night shows selling out fast.
He becomes the first character comedian to win either award since 2018, and thanked his “comedy family” Mikey Bligh-Smith and Freddie Hayes. “Character or not, I think it’s a win for the weirdos,” he said.
“It’s nice to have proof that it’s OK to do something a bit different.”
Burns said: “It is hard to believe this is Joe’s first fringe hour. Joe draws on a range of skills including pantomime, musical comedy and standup to bring you into Frankie’s world. Like many of the greats, everyone who has seen him this year will boast in future years.”
The Victoria Wood award, given to the performer who best represents the “spirit of the fringe”, was handed to Rob Copland, whose show Gimme (One With Everything) had been gathering buzz throughout the month, leading to snaking queues at his PBH Free Fringe venue Banshee Labyrinth.
Copland, who thought he’d missed out on a shot at the awards when the shortlist was announced on Wednesday, said he “cried for about 10 minutes” when he received the news last night. “It’s surreal. I can’t get my head around it. My mum took me to see Victoria Wood as a kid and I remember it so well, it’s so crazy that it feels like it’s come around.”
Nana Hughes, the chair of the judging panel and head of scripted comedy at ITV, said: “A show can break through and find an audience here. Recommendations from strangers in queues for other shows can lead to exciting new discoveries. This is the true spirit of the fringe. Our Victoria Wood award winner, Rob Copland, seized this spirit with both hands, in a performance which barely pauses for breath.”
Copland, who gave heartfelt thanks to his wife and family on stage, said: “I truly believe that the fringe should be fringe-y and the artists at the centre should be given the freedom to create stuff without pressure. The way that I have always wanted to do it is to nurture and shield creativity from the machine.”
The Edinburgh comedy awards were founded by Burns in 1981, and have picked out an array of up-and-coming talent over the decades, from Eddie Izzard and the League of Gentlemen, to Bridget Christie and Richard Gadd.
This year’s ceremony was hosted by Richard Osman and last year’s best show winner, Ahir Shah. “One of the real joys of the Edinburgh fringe is the extraordinary new stories,” said Osman. “You’re making people laugh, so thank you for that.”