The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has a formidable reputation for making or breaking new talent. For Ayoade Bamgboye, a 31-year-old comedian from London via Lagos, her debut last summer didn't just avoid breaking; it spectacularly launched her into the comedy stratosphere. Arriving with a slender CV and a fresh show, she left clutching the festival's prestigious Best Newcomer award, joining an illustrious list of former winners like Harry Hill and Sarah Millican.
From Debut Dread to Award-Winning Triumph
Before her first Fringe run, Bamgboye sought advice from comedy friends on how to debut successfully. The pressure of a single chance to make a first impression filled her with dread. "There's this recurring thought that you can only debut once," she admits. "If it falls flat, then you're just a shit debutante, forever." Her show, Swings and Roundabouts, ensured she escaped that fate entirely. The award, for which she was the first Black woman to win, has been life-changing. "I hate to say stuff like that, but it did," she states plainly, acknowledging the cliché but the undeniable truth of it.
Controlled Chaos and Cross-Cultural Identity
Bamgboye's comedy is a captivating exploration of language, family, and identity, shaped by a childhood split between Lagos and a Lake District boarding school. On stage, she is a vocal shapeshifter, fluidly moving between the accents and perspectives of her dual heritage. A self-described "caretaker of words," she playfully dissects British idioms that sound curious to her Nigerian ear, dedicating part of her show to phrases that connote misery.
Her aim was to create a performance of "controlled chaos"—a balance between making the audience feel in safe hands while keeping them guessing what might happen next. Remarkably, before Edinburgh, she had "never really told the same joke twice," approaching the marathon of a festival run with the need for material that would excite her to repeat nightly.
A New Comedy Life and Future Ambitions
The award has catalysed a profound shift in Bamgboye's life and artistic focus. Previously a creative drifter who worked as an assistant to director Yorgos Lanthimos on Poor Things, she is now fully immersed in comedy. She is developing a new set about small talk and rapidly learning from mentors including Jamali Maddix and previous best newcomer Lara Ricote. "My whole existence is now set-ups for jokes," she says, noting how it makes her more excited to live.
With a sold-out run at London's Soho Theatre scheduled for January and April 2025, Bamgboye is looking firmly ahead. "This is just the beginning," she asserts. "I feel like a guest [in this industry] who hasn't taken her shoes off yet. I haven't even been upstairs. Now I'm here, I'm in it for the long haul." For an audience and an industry still reeling from her thrilling debut, that promises much more controlled chaos to come.
