00:00Okay, Amy, you are the winner of the best show award at the end of the comedy awards.
00:06How does that feel?
00:07Bonkers, absolutely bonkers. I genuinely can't believe it because you're the people on the
00:13list. Keyworth, one of my favourite comedians of all time. I saw Catherine's show last night
00:21and there was a point where I was watching Catherine's show where I was like, I really
00:25want to be a stand-up comedian like Catherine. She's so good. I just can't, yeah, it's amazing.
00:31I'm over the moon.
00:32How does it feel to be nominated first of all?
00:35Oh yeah, unbelievable. And that's the, the nomination is like the big, the big thing
00:40really. The winning's like an icing on the cake, but the recognition of being nominated
00:45is yeah, amazing. It's a very overwhelming day and the fact that my best friend was nominated
00:54as well was just, it was a fantastic day.
00:57How long have you known each other and how did you form your double act? Tell us how
01:01that came about.
01:02Well, so we've known each other about, gosh, maybe, it's Chris, yeah, Chris. So maybe about
01:0910 years and we actually got together as a double act because I was in a double act with
01:15his wife, his now wife, and Chris got Nicola pregnant and then swooped in. He was like,
01:23Nicola's out the game, let's do it. But I, I actually saw, I saw one of Chris's previews
01:31when I was friends with Nicola and she said, can you come to watch my boyfriend's preview?
01:35And I was like, oh, this sounds rubbish. I don't, I don't know this guy. I don't want
01:39to watch his preview. And I, I watched it and then I very awkwardly had to say to his
01:45wife, I think your boyfriend is my favourite comedian. And then we've been friends ever
01:50since. We love working together. And, uh, I directed his show and he, he didn't direct
01:57mine, but he helped a lot for this year. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
02:01And how long have you been in a double act together?
02:03I think maybe like about seven years. It's quite, maybe it could be even longer. It's,
02:09um, we must be one of the longest serving double acts or sketch groups because it's
02:14so hard time-wise and balancing lives. And, um, we're very good at, um, just got a very
02:21solid friendship and I think that really, that helps.
02:24You had some success last year. Was it last year?
02:27The year before, yeah. So we got, uh, we got nominated for a double act and I got a newcomer.
02:35So gosh, yes, I've got newcomer and then my next show, my second show. Oh my God, I didn't
02:41realise that!
02:42And when you both got nominated for this year, what did you, what did you say to each other?
02:48Well, we, we were, we were apart and apparently, uh, when he got a call to say he was nominated,
02:54his first question was, and what about Amy? And when they rang me to say I'd been nominated,
02:58my first question was, and what about Chris? And then, yeah, we were apart. He was going
03:02for a jog around the castle and I was very much doing the opposite. I was sitting in
03:06a city cafe eating fried food. And, um, then he called me and he was just like, I'm running,
03:12I'm running towards you. And then, uh, sorry, I've got hay fever. Um, uh, yeah. And then
03:18we, I think we both cried for a bit out of, we was genuinely more happy for each other.
03:25Um, and I'm so proud of what he's, what he's done this year.
03:29Have you had the chance to speak to him yet?
03:32No. No, you sort of, you collect your water and I've been whisked down here and, um, my
03:38handbag's up there. I haven't even got my phone to sort of, I asked him to come up on
03:42stage with me and he was like, no, no, it's not the time. But I was like, please.
03:46Tell us about your, uh, tell us about the show you've brought to Edinburgh this year
03:50and people have not seen it. I'd imagine you'd be hoping to kind of do more with it.
03:55What kind of, what kind of comedy are you doing?
03:57So I'd say it's very confessional, very observational and, um, upbeat and I'm not a sort of cynical
04:07comedian. I'm not a political comedian. Um, I try and just genuinely just like have a
04:12laugh for an hour. But this year's show is a little bit more exposing and I talk just
04:20a little bit about how I've got confidence, but not actually very high self-esteem. And
04:27it's like quite an interesting area because I thought if you had one, you automatically
04:31had the other. So it's a bit of an exploration of that, but in a very funny way, I promise.
04:36How is the comedy landscape at the Fringe these days for comedians? I counted something
04:41like 1600 shows. Is it an ultra competitive landscape or do people really kind of help
04:47each other? I think people help each other. I think it's genuinely really, really supportive.
04:53I'd say the tricky thing at the moment is for working class acts. We're basically priced
04:59out of the festival and I'm very fortunate that I can do the Fringe now, but I can only
05:05do it because my career has got to a certain point where I can afford to do it and I can
05:11afford to make this month my work. I think this year more than any other year I've seen
05:18that there's less people sort of giving it a go. I feel like the standard of newcomers
05:26and the standard of shows that are at the Fringe is so high, but I honestly think that's
05:30almost a shame because people can't afford to come up here and just work it out or give
05:35it a try. You have to come up here with a business head of, these are my outgoings,
05:42this is what I could make, I'm going to need to get reviews in this day. It's like a machine,
05:47it's like quite a corporate machine in a lot of ways and if you're working class or just
05:53of a lower income, it's almost impossible to do it and the playing field between people
06:00that can afford PR, directors, the better venues, the better techs and people who can't
06:08afford that, the difference between the two experiences is so vast now that it feels really,
06:15really unfair. Even though I'm working class, because my career is luckily doing alright,
06:22I'm very lucky that I can afford a director and PR and all this, but if I was starting
06:27now, I honestly just don't think I could do it.
06:31So do you think working class, there's been a lot of debate about, there's a danger that
06:35working class comedians will be priced out, do you think that's already happening to an
06:38extent?
06:39Yeah, 100%, 100%.
06:41Despite the number of comedians who are here?
06:43Yes, there are a lot here, but I would say very few, if you actually dug into it, very
06:50few are from a low income and if they are here, you know that they're suffering, September,
06:57maybe to the end of the year, trying to recuperate costs. A few years ago, I think the first
07:05year that The Sausage got nominated, so 2019, when I came up, I couldn't afford to do it
07:13and not work, so I just recently, this is crazy, but I just recently trained as a masseuse
07:21and I came up to Edinburgh, I drove up to Edinburgh and I had my massage bed in the
07:26car and all my kit and in between shows, people were coming, performers and members of the
07:32public were coming to my flat where I was staying and I was giving people massages.
07:37Was that your first year, did you say?
07:39That was the, it was the first year Sausage got nominated, so I think it was, I'd maybe
07:45been to the Fringe a couple of times.
07:47But then you knew the financial reality that you needed.
07:49I knew the financial reality and also I was massaging people, members of the public, who
07:56found me through my Facebook store and they were like, I saw your show today. I was like,
08:02oh my god, this is so embarrassing, but I had to make the money.
08:06So what's the concern then if people are, working class people are priced out or it
08:12just becomes more and more difficult, what is the concern for the, I suppose for the
08:15future of comedy in general?
08:17Absolutely, well it would be such a shame if working class voices or regional voices
08:22disappeared and I think, I think we've been really lucky in the awards this year that
08:28I mean, newcomer Joe leads by, he used to flyer for the Delightful Sausage, I'm such
08:35a big fan of his. And we know if we can get here, if the working class kids can get here
08:41then we have a fair chance, we can do really well. But there's just a real, I think a real
08:48danger if accommodation prices keep increasing, we're not going to be able to come and I think
08:54we're really funny.
08:56It's a really important question, you're one of the very few women to win this award in
09:01over 40 years.
09:02Wow.
09:03Something like a fifth or sixth.
09:04Have I?
09:05Yeah, absolutely.
09:06Wow, of course. Yeah, that's incredible. I think the gender balance is, has had a really
09:14positive change in the last, I would say 10 years. And non-binary comedians as well and
09:19I think this year is, it's got to be one of the only years where male nominees, particularly
09:25in the male awards are the minority.
09:27It's the first year they've been in the minority.
09:29It's the first year?
09:30Yeah.
09:31Wow, well that's fantastic. That's brilliant. That's, yeah, I'm very chuffed with that actually.
09:36Yeah, you're one of the, I think you're in the fifth or sixth in 40 odd years.
09:40Wow. Oh my God. Come on women. Fantastic. Yeah, great.
09:46Anyway, congratulations again.
09:47Thank you so much.
09:48Thank you so much. Cheers.
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