Glasgow-based comedian Christopher Macarthur-Boyd has been announced as the winner of the 2026 Next Big Thing award, a prize - organised by British Comedy Guide - that was created to recognise one comedy act every year: whomever is most deserving of the public’s attention and the media’s spotlight.
Macarthur-Boyd is a thoughtful, comedically gifted act and self-described ‘sad, speccy guy with a tote bag’, who is already a big name in his native Scotland, if not yet the rest of the UK. Many know him best from the podcast Here Comes The Guillotine, which he co-hosted alongside fellow Scottish comics Frankie Boyle and Susie McCabe. The podcast concluded in February 2026 after a two-year run. He has previously been outspoken about how Scottish comedians get overlooked by the media and awards panels, and how it shouldn’t be necessary to move to London to pursue a career in the arts.
A panel of comedy industry experts first drew up a shortlist of five nominees for the award in January, with Macarthur-Boyd joined by Have I Got News For You star Bella Hull, “powerhouse presence” (Chortle) Gbemi Oladipo, “buzziest of the buzzy” (New York Times) Lorna Rose Treen, and Irish comic and self-described “cruel little man” Mike Rice.
Macarthur-Boyd was surprised with the news that he’d won the award whilst on stage at Always Be Comedy in South London. Having just finished performing his set, host and fellow comic Amy Annette announced the news, leading a stunned Macarthur-Boyd to tell the audience “imagine if the set had gone badly!”.
Later, he added: “I’m absolutely delighted to be called the Next Big Thing by British Comedy Guide, particularly because the other nominees this year are absolutely hilarious comedians. Mike Rice is a vile caricature of what it means to be a man, but he’s very funny and talented, and so are Lorna Rose Treen, Bella Hull and Gbemi Oladipo. They’re all really brilliant acts.”
The Daily Record has described Macarthur-Boyd as “on the cusp of something big, and you don't want to miss it”. As if to underline the need for this award to exist, the newspaper actually made these comments back in 2016.
More recently, Entertainment Now has commented that he has “major worldwide household name potential”. Described as “Scotland’s foremost purveyor of sad clever stand-up”, he has just started a tour of the UK and Ireland, Howling At The Moon, which The Scotsman reported as having "the audience roaring with laughter from start to finish". The New York Times, meanwhile, commented that “he has seriously fine-tuned his act and turned the offbeat humor up to 11”.
Speaking to British Comedy Guide in 2025, Macarthur-Boyd discussed the show, saying that “it's about a break-up, and a new relationship, and undiagnosed mental health problems, and being a nighttime person, and the rise of fascism, and sexuality and grief and nostalgia and all the other typical things people do stand-up about". Chortle’s verdict was that the show is “another assured, delightful and frequently hilarious hour”. The Skinny, meanwhile, called it “a masterclass in pacing, punchline placement, and delivery” and “a joyous, tightly constructed hour”.
To determine the Next Big Thing award nominees, British Comedy Guide conducted a UK-wide poll of more than 100 professionals from across the live comedy industry, asking for the acts they believed most represented the future of comedy. From that longlist, an expert panel whittled the names down to the five-strong shortlist.
Mark Muldoon, Next Big Thing award founder, says: “I created this award because of comedy’s bottleneck problem - a huge pool of fantastic UK talent who aren’t getting the career opportunities they deserve.”
“Thank you to our judges for helping out and bringing their impeccable taste to the table. There’s perhaps something to be said for the fact that comedy from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland feels overlooked by a London-centric media. Macarthur-Boyd was also the most voted-for act in our first round poll of over 100 industry professionals, so it really feels as though he’s pulled off a commanding clean sweep here. If people aren’t familiar with his work, my personal recommendation is to pop over to YouTube and give his most recent special, Scary Times, a spin.”
The judging panel to determine the shortlist and winner was: Grainne Smyth (Edinburgh Comedy Awards judge), Jason Dawson (commissioning executive, UKTV), Katerina Partolina Schwartz (editor, Pepper&Salt), Mark Muldoon (panel chair; journalist/critic: British Comedy Guide, Chortle), Rosalind Romer (director, Leith Comedy Presents) and Steve Bennett (editor, Chortle).
Read a big interviewe with Christopher Macarthur-Boyd here.
Picture: Mark Muldoon
