Interviews | The Snigger

Sarah-May Philo February 2026

Sarah-May Philo (42) from Glasgow is a comedian and has a “gorgeous, if outrageously smelly, family of two boys and a husband”. Sarah-May is a special needs teacher by day and “does a bit of comedy” in the evenings. We chatted in early January and here is what I found out.

I started by asking about her comedy profession so far.

“Well, I haven’t been paid for comedy since 2016 so I don’t think I can really justify being known as a professional. At best I am a work in progress. I was a finalist in Comedy Central’s Clean You’re Act Up but that feels like a lifetime ago.”

That’s brilliant you did that competition, so you are funny then?

“I don’t think anyone can claim that honour. If others think I’m funny then I’ll go along with that. Equally many think I’m not. I grew up with funny people therefore they rubbed off on me. My idols that I look up to I suppose are Eddie Izzard, Elaine C Smith and Frankie Boyle. I grew up watching them but I only considered the idea of doing comedy when I saw Joe Heenan and Susan Calman at The Stand. My dad had taken me along when I was 15 (Sarah-May’s dad knew the owner) and it was just so, so funny. I laughed until I had a stitch and almost immediately wanted to be just like them.”

Then, a few years later, Sarah-May took the plunge.

“I started comedy in my early 20’s, but I remember that day like it was yesterday; I was living in New York then and one night I went to an open mic night which one of my mates was going to do. She persuaded me to join her so I jotted a few things down and went on stage. I pretty much died on my arse but had a couple of laughs and it made me think I could do this as a kind of hobby. I told my mum about it and for my birthday she bought me a course at Glasgow’s Royal Scottish Academy for Music and Drama (RSAMD) which had huge comedy names teaching the course. I still remember Stuart Mitchel and myself having so much fun during the classes and me getting told to lose the piano! They didn't hold back”.

Then, tragically in March 2017, life took a scarily unexpected turn meaning that her bid for comedy fame had to be parked.

Sarah-May was diagnosed with a brain tumour. This took up her life, was stressful, exhausting, scary and worrying for her, her family, her partner and her friends until her treatment of chemo and radiation, losing her hair, side effects and secondary conditions including but not limited to low mood, exhaustion and fatigue was complete.

You can read about Sarah-May’s cancer journey in her blog:

https://sarahmayp.wordpress.com

By reading the blog, Sarah-Mays personality, determination and her sense of humour shine through the horror of having cancer at such a young age. Sarah called her tumour “Roger”, which is better than the tumours formal name of Oligodendroglioma…see, Roger is much easier, but is it Moore or the Dodger? As it happens both names are quoted in her blog.

After this terrifying experience came to its end Sarah-May’s new post-cancer life took a new shape. In 2019 the boyfriend who was with her during her cancer turned into her husband. Sarah-May married and then their family came along with the birth of her two boys and a life without “Roger”.

Back to seeing joy in her life and thinking again about comedy, the funniest people in Sarah-May’s life now are her kids. Sarah-May says:

“The two of them are so funny and have so much expression and personality. Even at ages 5 and 2 I can tell they’re going to do so well in life just based on their ability to make people laugh. It’s the most terrific thing if you’re able to laugh with your kids.”

Post tumour and a hectic but greatly appreciated family life, Sarah-May does want to pursue comedy again. So, what now, I ask.

“I think I just want to get to where I was before Roger was discovered. It was a long hard recovery and I miss my old life. I adore my husband and kids and now I just want to laugh. Preferably with an audience in front of me.”

I think Sarah-May will get there.

The perfect way to finish up but not before I ask Sarah-May about the inner workings of her psyche as I ask which of the images she relates to most.

“I must be honest and say none of them really. I guess if I had to choose one would be the solar system and I’d say something like ‘because I can reach for the stars’ or some bollocks like that but it’s really only because my husband is a scientist and my world currently is full of the solar system and metaphysics and that sort of stuff….If I were to choose an image for me I’d say it was this one:

I think it represents my brain, my thoughts that get jumbled up. ages constantly going on in my head all at once. After “Roger” (see above) my memory comes and goes intermittently. I suddenly remember something from 10 years ago and it makes me laugh out loud. It's all a bit jumbled but lovely all the same.