Daisy Earl wins Scottish Comedian of the Year 2015
Edinburgh-based comedian Daisy Earl has won the Scottish Comedian of the Year award 2015
Now in its tenth year, the competition is open to all Scottish comedians and those for whom Scotland is home, and tends, overall, to attract promising and emerging artists rather than household names – and it is all the more interesting for it. Eight comedians progressed through heats and semi-finals to perform a ten minute set, with the winner chosen by a panel of comedy experts.
This was the first time the event has come to the capital and being scheduled a touch later in the year than normal it became a nice inclusion to the Edinburgh's Christmas programme. This year's final was hosted by Scot Squad's Chris Forbes in front of a sell-out audience in the Spiegeltent, St. Andrew's Square.
Earl is the first female to win the award (though both Jay Lafferty and Susan McCabe have narrowly missed out in previous finals). Her set comprised of memorable and perceptive stories about trying to concentrate on important international politics with a low boredom threshold, her Scottish mother and their differing opinions on the utility of earrings, and the correlation between putting on weight and people increasingly acting like rude assholes.
She competed with strong sets from runners-up Christopher MacArthur-Boyd – who finished one routine with such strength of delivery it received a spontaneous applause from the audience – and the ever-splendid Gareth Waugh, who claimed third place and whose real gift for storytelling was evident even in a set as short as this.
Earl receives £1,000 and opportunities to perform at the Adelaide and Perth comedy festivals respectively and at Edinburgh Fringe 2016.