Chris Cantrill's Edinburgh comedy award raises his profile just as he leaves the festival to start work on a new series of SNL UK.
Speaking from his Northumberland home by video call, Cantrill said, "I couldn't be happier not to be at the festival today," and admitted the win had left him exhausted. He cancelled his final two fringe performances because he must begin writing for the sketch show immediately, and he described the build-up as leaving him feeling "like I've been hit by a train."
The prize is the culmination of several near-misses. This was Cantrill's fourth Edinburgh nomination, twice as a solo act and twice as one half of The Delightful Sausage with Amy Gledhill. The award has been a long time coming, and he laughed aloud when called a comparatively senior winner, replying, "Finally, a victory for the middle-aged white man!" before adding, "In my head, I'm a plucky young upstart still."
Cantrill's route into comedy was late and circuitous. He worked as a marketing manager and only took up performing at 28. A turn toward partnership with Gledhill produced The Delightful Sausage, a surreal double act that pushed him from part-time gigs into a full-time comic career after successive nominations. He expects the win to alter some practical things without being transformative, saying that when he sends an email "there's 30% more chance someone will respond to it."
The show that secured the award, Rewilding, extends themes from his 2024 show, detailing a move to rural Northumberland and the comic fallout of vandalism at a local landmark. The piece, a spoof whodunnit inspired by the felling of Sycamore Gap, grew from Cantrill observing local WhatsApp reactions and testing material on his neighbours. "They like laughing at themselves," he said, and quipped, "Hopefully the comedy award doesn't change their perspective on it, and I'll be hearing from their lawyers soon."
Cantrill is cautious about leaping to larger projects, noting that plans for a Delightful Sausage sitcom remain unrealised, but he is working with Gledhill on a BBC Radio 4 show, Icklewick FM. For now he intends to savour the moment: "There's this award. There's me and Amy working on a show for BBC Radio 4 [ Icklewick FM ] and it's the most joy of my life. So I'm just trying to be like: this is happening now for a bit, let's savour it."
