For the first time in its 43-year-history, male comedians are in the minority on the shortlist for the prestigious Edinburgh comedy award. The nominations for the prize, formerly known as the Perrier, also include two closely entwined pairs of comedians, with Catherine Bohart lining up against her former partner Sarah Keyworth, and Amy Gledhill pitted against the other half of her sketch double-act The Delightful Sausage (themselves twice previously nominated for the award), Chris Cantrill. Also featuring on the list are 2017’s best newcomer Natalie Palamides with the extraordinary Weer, and a pair of Australians: the tomfoolish Josh Glanc and the queer cabaret powerhouse Reuben Kaye.
The awards’ producer and West End impresario Nica Burns hailed the range of comic styles represented, “from clowning to character comedy to musical comedy and traditional standup”. The favourite is probably LA clown Palamides (already a Netflix star with her unforgettable special Nate), with an outrageous romcom pastiche that casts either side of her body as two lovers in a messy 1990s romance. East Midlander Keyworth’s show My Eyes Are Up Here, about their recent top surgery, already has a top prize in the bag from this year’s Melbourne comedy festival; acts including Hannah Gadsby with Nanette have done that awards double-whammy before. A victory for the singer and comedian Kaye would be seen as a vindication for his campaign, staged on and offstage, to resist burgeoning queerphobia in Australia and beyond.
