Comedy awards

These awards are open to comedy shows – please see the details of each award for entry specifics and sub-genres.

The Amused Moose Comedy Award seeks out breakthrough comedy talent that is yet to become well known (so could be said to be 'almost television-ready'), who have their own solo, sketch or multiple comedian / performer show at the Edinburgh Fringe.

2019 winners

Winner

Janine Harouni: Stand Up With Janine Harouni (Please Remain Seated) – Soho Theatre (Pleasance)

Outstanding Show

Liam Withnail: Homecoming – Liam Withnail (Monkey Barrel Comedy)

People's Champion

Archie Henderson: Jazz Emu – Archie Henderson (Gilded Balloon)

Entry information
Conditions of eligibility
- Shows submitted for this award must be listed in the comedy section of edfringe.com as being performed on at least 18 dates (at least five dates in each of the three main weeks).
- To enter, entrants have to upload a film of their full show by mid-July ideally (Sunday 28 July at the latest).
- Film your full show as a preview in June / July prior to the Edinburgh Fringe (amateur filming is fine, and maybe film more than once, and choose the one you prefer), and upload the film of your full show to YouTube, etc.
- Enter your show, including the link to the upload of the preview, at the latest by 23:59 on Sunday 28 July. This is the Sunday before the Fringe opens).
- The submitted film must be of this year’s Fringe show, and of a similar length to that shown on edfringe.com.
- Shows should not be submitted for inclusion IF:
  - the performer / performers cannot perform in the final on Wednesday 21 August, from 22:00 (though there may be some flexibility until 23:00)
  - any of the performers and / or the show has already won or been nominated for any other major comedy award in the UK or anywhere
  - any of the performers have previously been in a show which won any category in Amused Moose Comedy Award
  - the performer / performers cannot definitely confirm their availability to perform their show, or a segment from it, at (tbc) London’s Soho Theatre in October.
Respected comedy industry panellists view all the online submissions, before selecting a large number of shows to be seen live during the Fringe, from which panellists nominate up to 10 as the finalists.

Voting at the final, by Fringe-goers as well as a judging panel of comedy industry professionals, decides the winners (there are usually three awards) which in the past included Tania Edwards, The Kagools, Richard Gadd, Tony Law, Marcel Lucont and Celia Pacquola.

Visit amusedmoose.com/awards for full information about entering.

Best Show, Best Performer and Best Person, as determined by those involved in comedy shows.

All comedy shows and performers are automatically eligible for Best Show and Best Performer – no need to do anything to put yourself forward. Best Person tends to be for someone who works behind the scenes at the festival, eg a venue manager, flyerer or agent. Each comedy show in the brochure is invited to vote once for their favourite show, performer and person. You can't vote for anyone in your own show.

In the second half of the festival, the online nominations / voting form is made available online. When voting closes, the show / person will the most votes at that point is announced as the winner of that category.

Visit comedy.co.uk for more information.

2019 winners

Best Show

Joz Norris Is Dead. Long Live Mr Fruit Salad. – Joz Norris (Heroes)

Best Performer

Laura Lexx: Knee Jerk – Andrew Loach Talent (Gilded Balloon)

Best Person

Brian Dobie (The Pear Tree, The Counting House and 32Below)

Recognising the best artwork related to comedy shows at the festival. Any poster related to a comedy show performing at the festival can be entered. The winner of the Audience Award is whichever poster gets the most votes on the website. The Panel Award is determined by a jury of industry professionals.

Awards ceremony took place Saturday 17 August 2019 at Gilded Balloon on Chambers Street.

Enter your artwork at comedyposterawards.co.uk.

2019 winners

Panel award

Jessica Fostekew, Idil Sukan and Chris Lince: Jessica Fostekew: Hench – Jessica Fostekew (Monkey Barrel Comedy)

Audience award

Sofie Hagen, Haiminh Le and Matt Crockett: Sofie Hagen: The Bumswing – IAM Presents (Pleasance)

2019 winner

Olaf Falafel – It's One Giant Leek for Mankind – Olaf Falafel (Laughing Horse)

2019 shortlist

Richard Stott: Right Hand Man – Andrew Roach Talent (Gilded Balloon)
Milton Jones: Milton Impossible – Phil McIntyre Entertainments by arrangement with NRH Management present (Assembly)
Jake Lambert: Never Mak the Same Mistak Twice – Off The Kerb Productions (Pleasance)
Ross Smith: Crying / Shame – Ross Smith (Just the Tonic)
Adele Cliff: Undershare – Adele Cliff (Just the Tonic)
Richard Pulsford: Roll Up for the Smirking Break – Mirth of Forth productions (Scottish Comedy Festival @ The Beehive Inn)
Jokes with Mark Simmons Podcast: Live – Mark Simmons / PBH's Free Fringe (PBH's Free Fringe)
Ivo Graham: The Game of Life – Off The Kerb Productions (Pleasance)

Established in 1981 the UK’s premier Awards are now in their 39th year. There are three awards:

Best Comic / Comedy Show: For the funniest, most outstanding, up-and-coming comic / comedy show / act at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The prize is £10,000.

Best Newcomer: For the performer or act who is performing their first full-length show (50 minutes or more) at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The prize is £5,000. Please note that newcomers are eligible for the Best Comedy Show Award, if that is the Panel’s decision, but no act can appear on both shortlists in the same year.

For further information on the awards, please see comedyawards.co.uk.

2019 winners

Best Show winner

Jordan Brookes: I've Got Nothing – Fight in the Dog (Pleasance)

Best Show nominees

Darren Harriott: Good Heart Yute – CKP and InterTalent Group present (Pleasance)
The Delightful Sausage: Ginster's Paradise – The Delightful Sausage (Monkey Barrel Comedy)
Demi Lardner: Ditch Witch 800 – Century (Gilded Balloon)
Goodbear: Dougal – DugOut Theatre and Noel Gay Management (Pleasance)
Ivo Graham: The Game of Life – Off The Kerb Productions (Pleasance)
Jessica Fostekew: Hench – Jessica Fostekew (Monkey Barrel Comedy)
London Hughes: To Catch a D*ck – Broken Robot / So Comedy in association with Curtis Brown (Pleasance)
Spencer Jones: The Things We Leave Behind – Soho Theatre and United Agents (Pleasance)

Best Newcomer winner

Catherine Cohen: The Twist...? She's Gorgeous – Berk's Nest (Pleasance)

Best Newcomer nominees

Crybabies: Danger Brigade – Crybabies in association with PBJ Management (Heroes)
Helen Bauer: Little Miss Baby Angel Face – CKP and InterTalent Group present (Pleasance)
Huge Davies: The Carpark – CKP and InterTalent Group present (Pleasance)
Stand Up with Janine Harouni (Please Remain Seated) – Soho Theatre (Pleasance)
Michael Odewale: #BLACKBEARSMATTER – Live Nation in association with UTC Artist Management (Pleasance)
Nigel Ng: Culture Shocked – Off The Kerb Productions (Pleasance)
Sophie Duker: Venus – Berk's Nest in association with Avalon present (Pleasance)

Panel prize winner

Jess Brough and Fringe of Colour

How to enter

The shortlists were announced on Wednesday 21 August 2019.

Panel Prize: Like the Fringe itself, there are no rules. Everyone is eligible. It is entirely in the gift of the Panel and Award Director and may not be awarded at all. The prize is £5,000.

The winners of all three Awards were announced on Saturday 24 August 2019.

For further information on the awards, please see the website: comedyawards.co.uk.

All shows listed in the comedy and cabaret section of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe brochure were automatically checked for eligibility. Shows needed to be playing the dates as outlined in the eligibility rules in order to be judged.

For further information on eligibility, please visit comedyawards.co.uk.

All eligible shows were seen by the judging panel, awards administration team and scouts, who started covering shows from the first day of the festival. The judging panel consisted of comedy critics, industry professionals (TV and live) and punter judges. The scouts were previous members of the panel.

The shortlist was announced on Wednesday 21 August 2019. All members of the panel then saw all the shows again and the winner was selected and announced on Saturday 24 August 2019.

For further information on the judging process, please visit: comedyawards.co.uk/how-the-awards-are-judged.

2019 winners

Comic Originality

Legs – Julia Masli and The Duncan Brothers (Just The Tonic)

Cunning Stunt

West End Producer – Free Willy – Cuffe and Taylor in association with Jason Haigh-Ellery (Assembly)

Act Most Likely to Make a Million Quid

Goodbye Mr President – President Obonjo / PBH's Free Fringe (PBH's Free Fringe)

The So You Think You’re Funny? competition was created by the Gilded Balloon and Karen Koren in 1988 and this Fringe the competition moved into its 31st year of discovering, supporting and nurturing new comic talent.

First prize
Finlay Christie

Second prize
Shane Daniel Byrne

Third prize
Charlie George

How to enter

The comedians who apply must only have been performing standup for less than a year. Applicants are invited to perform in showcases across the UK throughout May, June and July, including London, Leicester, Glasgow and Brighton. The competition is the most successful of its kind in the UK and attracts over 600 applicants each year.

So You Think You’re Funny? is very competitive and there are only 45 places at the semi-finals in Edinburgh, which are judged by an industry panel including Karen and Katy Koren of Gilded Balloon, comedy editor of the Evening Standard and Beyond the Joke Bruce Dessau and a celebrity guest judge.

Each competitor is given seven minutes to win over the judges; at the end of each semi-final a winner is announced and given a place in the Grand Final: a two-and-a-half-hour top bill of new comic talent. The winner will receive a cash prize of up to £2,500, a trip to perform at Montreal’s Just for Laughs Festival 2020, a run as part of Gilded Balloon’s Fringe programme in 2020, a complimentary head shot shoot by professional photographer to the stars Steve Ullathorne and complimentary filmed copy and professional photographs of their spot from the final to use in their show-reel. As well as this, they will also win mentorship from Karen Koren and the So You Think You’re Funny team, who are all committed to nurturing young comic talent with personal support and touring opportunities in the year following the Grand Final.

Previous So You Think You’re Funny Award winners include Dylan Moran, Peter Kay, Lee Mack and Tommy Tiernan. Finalists include Johnny Vegas, Sarah Millican, Kevin Bridges, Rhod Gilbert, Rob Beckett, Russell Howard, Romesh Ranganathan, Jason Byrne, Lucy Porter, Mark Watson, Maisie Adam and Russell Kane.

For more info, visit soyouthinkyourefunny.co.uk.

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Amused Moose Comedy Award

2019 winners

The Comedian's Choice Awards, presented by British Comedy Guide

2019 winners

The Comedy Poster Awards, presented by British Comedy Guide

2019 winners

Dave's Joke of the Fringe

2019 winner

Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards

2019 winners

Malcolm Hardee Awards

2019 winners

So You Think You’re Funny?

Thank you!

Menu

Amused Moose Comedy Award

2019 winners

The Comedian's Choice Awards, presented by British Comedy Guide

2019 winners

The Comedy Poster Awards, presented by British Comedy Guide

2019 winners

Dave's Joke of the Fringe

2019 winner

Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards

2019 winners

Malcolm Hardee Awards

2019 winners

So You Think You’re Funny?

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