Here are the winners of this year's Edinburgh Comedy Awards

The “Oscars of comedy” saw Cantrill win the “Audible Best Comedy Show” award for his show, Rewilding, a “twisted tale” about how life in his peaceful countryside community was disrupted by a heinous act of vandalism. The win is Cantrill’s fourth nomination for Best Comedy Show, with two previous nominations as half of The Delightful Sausage in 2019 and 2022 and one for his previous solo show at the Fringe in 2024.

His comedy partner in The Delightful Sausage, Amy Gledhill, won Best Comedy Show in 2024, meaning both of the duo have now taken home comedy’s most prestigious accolade in the space of three years. Gledhill has since gone on to appear in Last One Laughing S2 and had a new comedy, Opening Up, commissioned by the BBC earlier this year.

The Taffner Family Best Newcomer Award went to Irish comedian Gleeson for Dog Ear, which is inspired by her time at art school in Limerick, while the judges also announced The Audible Panel Prize, which is marking its 20th anniversary this year having been first awarded in 2026 and is given to an act or organisation that best represents the “spirit of the Fringe’”

Finally, the Audible Panel Prize was awarded to One Joke, an entirely unique experience as 60 comedians tell just one single perfect joke before leaving the stage. Money raised is donated to Scottish refugee charity, The Welcoming.

Accepting the award, Mr Cantrill said: “This is a huge honour”.

He told The Scotsman: “I can’t process it on any level at all at the moment. Ten minutes after it was announced I was outside waiting for a taxi to go to my show. When I got there, I think word must have got around, so I took the award on stage with me because I’d kept them waiting five minutes so I felt deeply guilty. I wanted them to know why I was late and they were really understanding.”

He said his previous nominations had “changed the trajectory of my life”.

“Growing up, I very much remember it as the high water mark as what can be achieved in our industry,” he said.

What did Richard Gadd say about the awards?

Scottish comedian and writer Richard Gadd said he is “confident” Scottish comedy will “get the recognition it deserves in the years to come” as he presented the winners with their awards, ten years after his own win.

The Edinburgh Comedy Awards came under fire earlier this week when it emerged there were no Scottish nominees this year. Only a handful of Scots have ever been nominated for the awards.

Gadd, who won the Best Show award in 2016 with his show Monkey See, Monkey Do, told The Scotsman he believed the comedy industry is “London centric” and called for a better “proportion of opportunity” for Scottish comedians.

However, he said he believed the panel of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards was doing “everything they can” to ensure a fair and accurate decision is made in selecting winners.

Gadd said he was “very grateful” for the spotlight his 2016 win had given him.

He said: “Without the 2016 festival and the Edinburgh Comedy Awards shining a light on such a challenging show, I don’t see any of this [his career] happening really, I owe the festival everything.”

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He added: “There is so much talent up here in Scotland. I know that the comedy awards are doing everything they can and I know they had some Scottish panellists this year and Scottish scouts and I’m very confident that Scotland will get the recognition it deserves in the years to come.

“I think we do exist in a London-centric industry and a better proportion of opportunity would be great. I think a lot of really buzzy and hopeful things are happening now. I do see things changing, but it’s a long process. More could be done and I’m all for Scotland getting more opportunity moving forward in the future.”

Nica Burns, director of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, said the awards was an “absolute level playing field” for comedians.

She said: “We don’t discuss where anyone comes from for the panel, it’s purely about the work and the debate is about the performance, the writing and how good the show is - that’s it. That’s the criteria. There’s no attempt, no desire to balance anything in terms of the personal characteristics of the performer, that’s not what it’s about.”

Ms Burns and Emma Brünjes, executive director of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, added: “In Chris and Marty we have two outstanding winners: both are exceptional comedians, writers and performers who have crafted wonderful shows to win the accolades of Best Comedy Show and Best Newcomer. There is so much talent at the Edinburgh Fringe and comedy is again the largest category this year.

“With so much talent to choose from, the judges’ debate was knowledgeable, exciting and passionate. Congratulations to Chris and Marty and all the comedians shortlisted – you are all terrific.”

Liz Lewin, director of comedy series at Netflix UK and chair of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2026 panel, said: “It was wonderful to be part of a judging panel and process that gave such careful, thorough and enjoyable consideration to such a range of outstanding comedians, any one of whom would have been a winner to be proud of. In Chris and Marty we see two very different but equally brilliant writers and performers who have both conjured something that only they could have.”

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