Dom McGovern Will Make Edinburgh Fringe Debut With PRIZE HOG
The CHICKEN SHOP DATE co-writer brings a stand-up hour on body image and masculinity to the Fringe.
Fresh from supporting Aisling Bea on her UK tour, comedian and co-writer of Chicken Shop Date Dom McGovern will make his Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut in 2026 with Prize Hog, a whip-smart hour of stand-up about bodies, blokes, and begrudgingly accepting who you are.
A self-described flirtatious cynic, with the "caustic wit of Noel Coward and the self-esteem of Princess Diana", Prize Hog introduces Dom McGovern through a light-hearted tour of his psychological baggage, with plenty of jokes thrown in for good measure.
The show begins at the beginning: a Catholic household where an early fixation on the body starts in an unlikely place - a topless Jesus on the crucifix. From there, Prize Hog traces the accumulation of messages, images and cultural signals that shaped his relationship with his body. That thread leads all the way to finding himself the only man in an eating disorder group therapy session, navigating shame, unexpected solidarity with a taxi driver and the bonds that form in spaces not traditionally assumed to belong to you.
Central to the show is the cultural landscape McGovern grew up in: late-2000s diet television and how that intersected with a shame-based Catholic upbringing. From Kate Moss's infamous phrase "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" to the forced body positivity of the 2010s, he highlights the casual, relentless scrutiny of bodies that has defined western culture over the last 25 years.
Prize Hog examines how those early influences shape a person's relationship with their body for years afterwards, using McGovern's own stories with exceptional crowd work woven throughout, to explore the broader realities of body dysmorphia, eating disorders, male body image, shame and masculinity, and asking what, if anything, has changed in the age of wellness influencers and Ozempic.
An unflinching look at society, Dom relives the shared memories of a generation. Plus, what other show is going to mix a metaphor about the current political state of Western geopolitics with a joke about Glee?
Prize Hog performs 5th to 30th August (not 18th) at Pleasance Courtyard's Bunker One at 20:30.
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