Comedy awards

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 (The last Sunday before the Fringe opens 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 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
  • 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.

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.

All shows listed in the comedy and cabaret section of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe brochure are 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 are seen by the judging panel, awards administration team and scouts, who start covering shows from the first day of the festival. The judging panel consists of comedy critics, industry professionals (TV and live) and punter judges. The scouts are previous members of the panel.

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

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 the year. 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, a run as part of Gilded Balloon’s Fringe programme, 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.