The Delightful Sausage

Written by: Si Hawkins
Published: Friday 28th October 2022

It's now over six years since First Gig Worst Gig first started asking comedians awkward questions about their live history, so it's high time we invited some fine interviewees back and peppered them with a bunch of new questions. And what better people to pepper than The Delightful Sausage?

Amy Gledhill and Chris Cantrill are comedy royalty these days, still basking in the glow of their second Edinburgh Fringe nomination in a row. Yes, there's a truckload of brains behind their tomfoolery, and that truck is now traveling the UK. They're on tour!

So what can our delightful source (probably Chris) tell us about the epic opus Nowt But Sea?

"Hello British Comedy Guide! Well, Nowt But Sea is our fourth show. It tells the blood curdling tale of what happened when Amy and Christopher-Louise (aka Yorkshire's finest meat-themed double act) were invited to the mysterious private island of an elite celebrity agent.

"It's our most ambitious show yet and is packed with all the twists, turns and incredibly gross gags about viscous bodily fluids. We also have Paul Dunphy (of internet sketch duo Larry & Paul) in the role of mischief making Cedric L'Shay."

Beefy stuff. The Sausage play Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, then take root at London's Soho Theatre from November 21-23, a run that would awkwardly clash with lots of World Cup games if those games weren't on in the afternoon, because of the time difference. So how did Chris and Amy persuade FIFA to hold it in Qatar?

"It's a little known but deffo true fact that the upper management at FIFA have a deep love of northern sketch comedy."

Absolutely. Now, raise your saveloys high for the very first edition of First Gig Worst Gig 2: the burpy comeback.

First headline gig?

We were booked to close a weekend comedy club in Edinburgh in December. Alarm bells were ringing but it came after we'd been nominated for the award in 2019, so we thought that maybe we could pull it off? On the Friday, we just about got away with it but on Saturday we did pretty much the whole set to silence.

The only reaction we got was when Chris asked the audience how many press-ups they thought he could do. We could feel every second but we did our time though.

What's the best advice about doing comedy you've ever received?

We were lucky enough to have Colin Hoult sit in on a rehearsal. He gave us some top drawer advice about our on-stage relationship and how to balance it with our tendency to go weird, which really broke the back of the show.

The big breakthrough show?

Ginster's Paradise is the show where it all clicked into place. In the first couple of shows, we were very much figuring out our characters, tech and how to tell a story. Ginster's was the one where it felt like we properly realised the ambition we had for it in our heads.

Amy always says that making shows should feel like you're on your tippy toes out in the deep end so with Nowt But Sea we wanted to push everything a bit further and add some spicy new elements to make sure we never, ever get comfy!

The weirdest audience member?

As we're proudly flying the flag for oddball comedy, our audiences are often eclectic and delightfully unhinged. We love it. By far the weirdest audience members probably have to be Telegraph readers. Slow blinkers.

Is there one gag/routine that worked better than you expected?

We have a bit in the new show about chopsticks which is pretty much just Chris having a breakdown on stage so it's strange to see people enjoying it so much.

Your worst gig-travel experience?

We once got stuck on the M6 overnight following an accident. Obviously very lucky not to have been involved and only a minor inconvenience but we had to hold our farts in for aaaaaaages...

Who would join you on your dream bill?

Bob Mortimer, Tommy Cooper and Liz Truss! Haha. Satire.