Amanda Dwyer wins Glasgow Comedy Festival's Sir Billy Connolly Award

Glasgow International Comedy Festival came to a close for another year last night, but not before crowning Amanda Dwyer the winner of the festival’s top prize, the Sir Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award. On stage at the gala ceremony at King's Theatre, the Glasgow comedian and co-host of the Material, Girl all-female comedy show said: “I don’t believe this. I just, in a million years, never thought I was gonna win this. I don’t have any words, I can’t believe it – I’m gonna pass out.  I’m really in shock. Thank you so much to the comedy festival – this is genuinely a pure honour. I’m really glad I painted my nails today.”

Dwyer won the prize for her work at the festival, including her show I Did Something Bad, a routine where she digs into the raw realities of miscarriage and finds humour in the worst places. Reviewing the show's run at last year's Edinburgh Fringe, our writer Malak Naseem called I Did Something Bad “a show that blends Dwyer’s dry wit, raw vulnerability, and oddly nuanced connections to Taylor Swift’s discography”.

“Despite the bleakness of her material, I Did Something Bad never feels heavy-handed,” Naseem wrote. “It’s cathartic. It’s the kind of show where you laugh, wince, and be left thinking about a healthcare system in which a woman can be left to bleed for six weeks post-miscarriage while having to work a minimum wage job, and laugh again.”

Announcing the award, Glasgow International Comedy Festival director Krista MacDonald said: "Amanda Dwyer is a comic who personifies the city she comes from in every way. Something Glaswegians are renowned for is finding humour even in dark times, and that is something Amanda does so deftly and thoughtfully in her comedy as she tackles the raw, and often traumatic, realities of being a woman."

Dwyer was a worthy winner, but she was up against a shortlist of some fine comics; also in the running for the prize were standups Kate Hammer, Kim Blythe, Susan Riddell and Zara Gladman. There was also a non-comedian in the mix: Chris Conway, the owner of Blackfriars, the Merchant City pub known for its comedy nights in the Blackfriars Basement, was also on the shortlist.

Dwyer took home the crown, though, and she was particularly excited about her win getting the blessing from Scotland’s greatest ever standup. “It means the world to me,” said Dwyer. “My entire family are Billy Connolly fans – the first thing I'm going to do is phone my dad. I'm definitely going to be the favourite child.”

Talking of the Big Yin, Connolly sent a message to the ceremony from his home in Florida, and began with a subversive remark on the whole notion of a comedy award gala.  “Hello everybody, I hope you're enjoying the Gala. Comedy's come a long way when they give you Galas. Galas were for Bearsden people!” But he saved some genuine praise for Dwyer: “I'd like to congratulate the winner, Amanda Dwyer, who is superb and knows more about bumholes than I do. Have a ball – enjoy yourself!"

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Material, Girl runs on the last Sunday of the month at The Stand Comedy Club, Glasgow; next show 26 Apr, 2.30pm

Amanda Dwyer's new show Better Than Revenge plays The Stand Comedy Club (Stand 2), 6-30 Aug (not 17), 6pm, as part of the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe

instagram.com/amandadwyerrlol