Dom McGovern is a comedian, writer, and actor from London. He is the co-writer of Chicken Shop Date with Amelia Dimoldenberg, with his episodes viewed more than 20 million times on YouTube, and has written for Dazed, Vice UK, and Novara Media. Since beginning stand-up in 2022, he has quickly built a body of work spanning live performance, writing, and digital platforms. He is the host of cult comedy night Slay24 and drag cabaret night OurGayMaria, and has toured in support of Aisling Bea, Sophie Duker, Olga Koch, and Urooj Ashfaq. After only 10 gigs, he reached the final of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s RAW Comedy competition. He brings his debut hour, ‘Prize Hog’ to the Fringe in August. We spoke to Dom abou the show, the effects the toxic 2000s had on the world’s body image, and how performing as part of a split bill in 2025 was a big boost to his craft.

Can you tell us about ‘Prize Hog’?

‘Prize Hog’ is my first hour of stand-up comedy, and it’s on at the Edinburgh Fringe!!! It’s about feeling like the ugliest person at the party, but still the most beautiful boy in the world. By that I mean, it’s about feeling consistently insane about your body – all the time – and having a compulsion to tell people about that for their validation. That’s obviously an unsustainable worldview so maybe we will be grappling with self-actualisation? If you’ve ever seen the meme of Girls actor Jemima Kirke saying ‘I think you guys might be thinking about yourselves too much,’ It’s kind of that, hating yourself but loving talking about it. It’s also kind of about Catholicism, my mother, and a therapist I once had called Wendy Christmas.

For those who might be unfamiliar with you, how would you describe your comedy and your approach to performance?

This question is framed in such a kind way, thank you. ‘For those who might be unfamiliar with you…’ girls, that’s everyone.

The other day I described my stage persona as ‘Gen Z barista who’s been possessed by the ghost of Noël Coward’, which I will say: the girls who get it get it. For those who decidedly do not get that (which is more than fair enough), it’s: youth-adjacent gay guy in a shirt and tie chats to you about whatever’s on his mind and occasionally screams into a microphone. It’s stand-up comedy. What I’m describing is stand-up comedy.

You delve into the toxic history of media depictions of the ‘ideal’ body, including Kate Moss’ infamous statement, “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”. Just how damaging was that attitude?

The Kate Moss quote is often used to sum up the attitude towards bodies in the 2000s, and I think the 2000s get a bad rep as a particularly toxic era for body image, when essentially all media has primed us to want to be thin basically since images were invented. That’s why Christ is always depicted as a ripped little twink rather than what he actually was: a normal gay guy from the Levant who loved going to dinner with his twelve besties and talking about himself. Bread for the table? Yes please!

You enjoy weaving crowd work into the show. How does your writing incorporate that room for spontaneity?

That’s actually been one of the hard parts of writing an hour. If it was up to me I’d spend like four days chit-chatting with the audience, but I’m told I need ‘a narrative’, so I want to build moments into the story of the show where the audience gets to be part of it. I hate the idea of monologuing for an hour. I think each show should feel in a way like a communal collective experience. Ultimately about me but still a communal collective experience.

You supported Aisling Bea on her recent UK tour. How was that experience?

Honestly, great. I tried to write a little joke here where I made Aisling seem like the boss from hell, like she was Miranda Priestley and I was Andy Sachs, but really it was too formative an experience to do that. If you’d told me a year ago I’d get to go on tour with Aisling Bea, who is so instrumental in why I started doing stand-up in the first place, I would have said ‘different gay guy I think’. I often feel like a little bit of an interloper in the comedy industry, so to have Aisling’s support has been really wonderful and I’ve learned a lot from her. She has that perfect quality in a stand-up where the audience would literally follow her into battle. I’d lead the cavalry.

What are your hopes for the show? What would constitute a successful Fringe for you?

A successful Fringe would result in me getting cast in Pitch Perfect 4. I think that the casting team might see my show and think, ‘He can’t sing but he would make a great comic foil if Rebel Wilson is unavailable.’ And, of course, I want to be the first gay man to achieve EGOTOHD status (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony, Omaze House Draw).

Genuinely, I just want people to come and see the show and have a great time and tell their mates and then want to come back for future hours. I love being a comedian and I want to do it for as long as I can, so longevity is the ultimate goal.

What are you looking forward to, or perhaps dreading, about the Fringe?

I’m looking forward to doing a show every single day. I did a split bill last year with my very talented pal Zoe Brownstone, and by the time the month was over I genuinely think we were better comics for it, so hopefully I come back with a load more experience. And a tan x

I’m dreading the cost of pints. Too cheap! Make them triple figures! I just want the bars to make money – everyone forgets about them.

Besides ‘Prize Hog’, can we expect to see you performing elsewhere during August; guest spots, compilation shows, etc?

Absolutely, I’m going to be hosting my compilation mixed bill ‘Slay24‘ on 15th and 22nd August. We always manage to get a great lineup so I’d definitely come to that. I’ll also be performing at the Tartan Ribbon Gala, which raises money for an excellent cause. I would love a guest spot at the Shrek-themed burlesque show so if they read this: please put me in, I want to lip-sync to Shania Twain while dressed as Princess Fiona.

Are there any other shows/ performers at the Fringe that you would recommend?

So many. I would encourage anyone to go and see anyone doing their first hour show. It’s stressful to bring a show up when you’ve got a smaller profile, but my favourite thing about this year has been doing work-in-progress shows with other comics working up to their first Edinburgh. I just think it’s such an exciting thing to see people working really hard to get their shows together, so off the top of my head: Rob Preston, Marty Gleeson, Ele McKenzie, Maia Tassalini, Em Humble, Emmeline Downie, Freddie Meredith, Dane Buckley, Tom Towelling, Sam Eley/Basil Crumbwick, Harriet Richardson. Loads more I can’t think of because I’ve put an app blocker on my Instagram.

And, of course, Amanda Knox.

‘Prize Hog‘ is at Bunker One at Pleasance Courtyard from Wed 5 to 30 Aug 2026