Despite this only being her second year bringing a solo hour to Edinburgh, Hull-hailing Amy Gledhill is a remarkably decorated Fringe performer. Already twice nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award with Christopher Cantrill as comedy duo The Delightful Sausage, Gledhill was also shortlisted for Best Newcomer in 2022 with debut hour The Girl Before The Girl You Marry. Her latest stand-up show, Make Me Look Fit On The Poster, can’t help but be hotly anticipated when following in the footsteps of its critically acclaimed predecessors. But is she feeling the pressure? ‘To be honest, I feel more confident in front of an audience than I ever have,’ she says earnestly. It’s a refreshingly confident position to be in a week away from the start of a Fringe run, particularly one with the theme of self-esteem at its centre. 

Written in the aftermath of a break-up, the show examines Gledhill’s relationship with beauty, self-image and self-worth. ‘It’s absolutely mad that a comedian, someone who’s literally just trying to be funny, has to even consider beauty,’ she says. ‘Growing up, comedy was for outsiders. It was for the losers, for the little freaks. But now, comedians can be beautiful and hilarious; like really top of their game and stunning. You kind of think “let us have something!”’

Of course, the irony of her show title, which is accompanied by an aptly gorgeous image of Gledhill in full glam, speaks to the seed of insecurity still sitting within her. ‘I knew that my ex would see the poster every day, so part of me was genuinely like “I’ve got to look fit on this.”’ In a similar vein to her first hour, a traditional and conversational stand-up style is Gledhill’s chosen format, a change of tone she sees as a healthy tonic to The Delightful Sausage’s more surreal humour. ‘I’m always really conscious that I want my stand-up to feel like stand-up. Then my Sausage can feel like... Sausage,’ she giggles. But compared to her first hour, Gledhill reckons this show is even more personal. ‘I’m challenging myself to be a bit braver and more honest. I touch on things that are uncomfortable which, in your first show, you’ve just got to try and be 100% funny 100% of the hour. Now having that under my belt, I feel there’s a few nooks and crannies that are more exposing and vulnerable.’

Make Me Look Fit On The Poster also leans into more theatrical storytelling techniques that pull on Gledhill’s acting skills, recently on display in Alma’s Not Normal, Starstruck and Sex Education. Is acting the ultimate end goal for her? ‘Acting is a joy. When you don’t have to write it and come up with it, you just turn up and read another very funny writer’s script and get all the glory. It’s so good!’

But it’s acting in combination with writing that really has her heart. ‘To write and star in your own sitcom feels so mad to even say out loud. It’s the ultimate miracle goal.’ Gledhill had a taste of this when earlier this year Channel 4 commissioned her to write Toads, a 13-minute short. ‘It was such a joy to do. I’ve got a real love for scriptwriting. A conversation is so much easier and more natural to write than one woman talking for an hour, even though that’s exactly what I do in stand-up and what I’ve just done here.’ Despite her preferences, she’s more than proven her ability to skilfully pen a monologue once. With this newfound confidence, she’ll surely do it again.

Amy Gledhill: Make Me Look Fit On The Poster, Monkey Barrel, 13–25 August, 6.10pm; also touring the UK until Friday 29 November.