From Liz Kingsman’s ‘messy woman’ send-up to Seann Walsh’s memories of his off-screen Strictly kiss, the nine-strong shortlist is a triumph for diversity though not without glaring omissions
The nominations have been announced for the first Edinburgh Comedy awards in three years – and they include a notorious tabloid “love rat”, an act who quit comedy mid-pandemic to stack supermarket shelves, and a transgender woman with the buzziest comedy on the fringe. The so-called “Oscars of comedy” have been in cold storage since 2019, but are revived with a nine-strong shortlist which also features, in a rare departure from convention, a show that’s already been a smash hit elsewhere in the UK – Liz Kingsman’s extraordinary spoof on Fleabag-style “messy woman” cliches, One-Woman Show.
Nominations have also been announced for the best newcomer award, a list which includes 23-year-old Leo Reich (whose electrifying set Literally Who Cares?! would have justified a place on the main list), the Irish-Italian act Vittorio Angelone and New Jersey’s Emily Wilson, with a winning show about her appearance, aged 15, on The X Factor. At least until the winners are announced on Saturday, this year’s happiest comic will surely be Hull native Amy Gledhill, who unusually features on both shortlists – with her solo show on the newcomer roster, and as one-half of the sketch duo The Delightful Sausage, who are nominated, for the second time, for the main award.
