The ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

. Established in 2023, awards are given to Best Show, Best Newcomer and a Panel Prize and are judged by a panel of judges on a voluntary basis who see all eligible comedy shows. From 2024, the awards were sponsored by

Jones Bootmaker Jones Bootmaker is a footwear retailer based in the United Kingdom, with forty-two retail outlets throughout the United Kingdom. History In 1857, Alfred and Emma Jones opened a footwear shop in Bayswater, London. Jones was a pioneer in the i ...

becoming the Jones Bootmaker ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards.

Format

The Best Comedy Show is awarded to the comedy show that the Judges and/or the audience think is the funniest. The Best Newcomer Award is given to the best show, the one the Judges and/or the audience think is the funniest from an act doing their first full-length (45 mins and over) show at the Edinburgh Fringe. The Panel Prize is awarded by the Judges to any individual or group that is deemed to have done something 'amazing' at the Fringe.

History

Originally the ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards were created to plug a gap when the

Edinburgh Comedy Awards The Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Awards, and also briefly known by other names for sponsorship reasons) are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. Establ ...

lost their sponsorship deal with

Dave Dave may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the 1993 film * ''Dave'' (TV series), a 2020 American comedy series * ...

. When these Awards got a new sponsorship deal in 2023, the ISH Awards went ahead as planned. In 2023, there were joint winners for Best Comedy Show and Best Newcomer. Paul Foot and

Julia Masli Julia Masli (born ) is an Estonian-born, London-based Modern clowning, clown who garnered wide attention and a number of awards at the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe for her show ''ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.'' Early life Masli was raised in Tallinn, ...

jointly won Best show, and Dan Tiernan and

Fiona Ridgewell Fiona is a feminine given name of Gaelic origins. It means white or fair, while the Irish name ''Fíona'' means 'of wine', being the genitive of 'wine'. It was coined by Scottish writer James Macpherson. Initially, the name was confined to Sc ...

jointly won Best Newcomer. The Panel Prize was awarded to Mark Simmons and Danny Ward for 'A Show for Gareth', a compilation show set up to raise money for the family of fellow comedian Gareth Richards. In 2024,

Elf Lyons Emily-Anne "Elf" Lyons (born 10 June 1991) is a British stand-up comedian, writer and actress. Early life Lyons is the daughter of economist Gerard Lyons. Her mother, Annette, is a painter and she has two siblings. She earned a BA in Drama fro ...

won Best show, and Abby Wambaugh won Best Newcomer. The Panel Prize was awarded jointly to Alex Petty, Best in Class, Dion Owen, Elaine Robertson and Funny Women Glitter Project.

Sponsorship

In 2024, the ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards secured a sponsor

initially with an investment of £15,000 to cover the three prizes of £5,000 each for Best Show, Best Newcomer and Panel Prize. It was also announced at the May 2024 Press Launch that the winners would each receive a year's supply of Jones Bootmaker shoes. 100% of the sponsorship goes to the prizes as the awards are run on a voluntary basis.

Controversy

Prizes

Paul Foot commented on BBC News on the day of the 2023 Awards Ceremony that he 'didn't get any money at all', referring to half the £10 prize as the Award had joint winners. Paul Foot said 'I was at the Awards ceremony and no one gave me any money, and I just thought it didn't seem like the right thing to say 'Excuse me can you give me five quid please'. However at a launch event for the 2024 awards, Paul Foot was presented his prize money by comedian Mark Silcox.

Long Lists and Short Lists

In 2023, a list of shows were made halfway through the Fringe for the Long List and these were whittled down to shows on the Short List. For Best Show these were Ed Byrne,

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 191920 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1979. He w ...

Janine Harouni Janine Harouni is a UK-based American stand-up comedian and actress. Early life Harouni was raised in Staten Island, New York City by a Lebanese-American father and a mother of Irish and Italian ancestry. In 2009, Harouni was grievously injur ...

, Luke Kempner,

Marjolein Robertson Marjolein Robertson is a Scottish stand-up comedian and actress from Shetland. She was ''Scots Speaker of the Year''. She has appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe and her 2023 show "Marj" was nominated for an award. Early and personal life Robertson ...

, Paul Currie, Paul Foot, Phil Ellis,

Seymour Mace Seymour Mace (born 1969) is a British comedian and actor. Life and career Mace was born in 1969, and he moved with his family soon afterwards to South Africa as his father worked as a gold miner. The family returned to the UK, to Bedworth, nea ...

and Sid Singh. For Best Newcomer these were Dan Tiernan,

Kelly McCaughan Kelly may refer to: Art and entertainment * ''Kelly'' (Kelly Price album), 2011 * ''Kelly'' (Andrea Faustini album) * ''Kelly'' (musical), by Mark Charlap, 1965 * "Kelly" (song), by Kelly Rowland, 2018 * ''Kelly'' (film), Canada, 1981 * ...

Lachlan Werner Lachlan may refer to: People * Lachlan (name), masculine name. Places * Several places in New South Wales, Australia, named for Lachlan Macquarie. For a more complete list, see Places named after Macquarie ** Electoral district of Lachlan, an el ...

, and

Lorna Rose Treen Lorna Rose Treen (born 10 October 1994) is an English comedian and satirist. Early life Treen grew up in Redditch before moving to Edinburgh to study philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. Her mother was a prison governor and her father wor ...

. In 2024, nominated acts for Best Show were

Alfie Brown Alfie Brown is an English stand-up comedian. In 2022, he was nominated for the main prize of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards. He is the son of comedian Jan Ravens and writer Steve Brown. Personal life Brown is the son of Jan Ravens and Steve Br ...

Amy Gledhill Amy Stella Gledhill is an English comedian and actress. She has been nominated for Best Show at the UK National Comedy Awards and for Best Show and Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, winning the former in 2024. She performs solo a ...

Ashley Haden Ashley is a place name derived from the Old English words '' æsċ'' (“ash”) and '' lēah'' (“meadow”). It may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ashley (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

Colin Hoult Colin Hoult (born 15 May 1979) is an English actor and writer in television, radio, and theatre. He studied at Manchester Metropolitan School of Theatre. Career Hoult has worked in various television productions, including '' Russell Howard's ...

, David Eagle,

Gareth Mutch Gareth (; Old French: ''Guerehet'', ''Guerrehet'', etc.) is a Knights of the Round Table">Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. He is the youngest son of King Lot and Morgause, Queen Morgause, King Arthur's half-sister, thus making him ...

Jordan Brookes Jordan Brookes (born 18 April 1986) is an Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning comedian. Brookes was born in Merseyside and grew up in Surrey. His grandfather was Bill Sellars, a producer and director best known for his work on BBC series such as ' ...

Mark Thomas Mark Clifford Thomas (born 11 April 1963) is an English comedian, best known for the political stunts that he performs on his show, ''The Mark Thomas Comedy Product'' on Channel 4. Thomas first became known as a guest comic on the BBC Radio 1 ...

, Mat Ewins, Phil Ellis, Raul Kohli, and

2023 Ceremony

In 2023, the ceremony was presented by Patrick Monahan and covered by BBC News. Presenters at the awards included Awards Producer

Sarah Bowles Sarah (born Sarai) is a Patriarchs (Bible)#Matriarchs, biblical matriarch, prophet, and major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character simil ...

, and comedians Ed Byrne and Nathan Cassidy. It was revealed at the ceremony that Nathan was behind the inception of the Awards. Nathan said at the ceremony he was proud of the Awards as 'it was a community coming together for something good and different - comedians, producers, critics on the panel being supportive of artists.'

2024 Ceremony

In 2024, the ceremony was again presented by Patrick Monahan. Presenters at the awards included Awards Producer

Milton Jones Milton Hywel Jones (born 16 May 1964) is an English comedian. His style of humour is based on one-liners involving puns delivered in a deadpan and slightly neurotic style. Career Jones has had various shows on BBC Radio 4 and was a recurrin ...

Bobby Davro Robert Christopher Nankeville, known professionally as Bobby Davro (born 13 September 1958), is an English actor and comedian. He made his television debut in 1981 followed by breakthrough in ''Live from Her Majesty's'' (1983); this was follo ...

and awards founder Nathan Cassidy.

Industry Recognition

In 2023, Awards Producer

was awarded the

Funny Women Funny Women is an online and in-person workshop community dedicated to the support of female comedians. It was founded by Lynne Parker (Funny Women), Lynne Parker in 2002 as a reaction to misogynistic comments from a comedy promoter. Funny Women h ...

Industry Award 2023 for her work on the ISH Awards. Sarah said 'We wanted to being some positivity to the Edinburgh Fringe to help boost comedians who have struggled since Covid. We have been overwhelmed with the support we have received and recognition would only make it easier to increase the benefits to all those who work so hard in the industry.'

Notes

{{Reflist, 2, refs= {{cite web, url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2023/08/26/54016/ahir_shah_scoops_main_edinburgh_comedy_award_ , title=Chortle - ISH Awards Winners Announced , publisher=Chortle.co.uk , access-date=2024-01-03 {{cite web, url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/fringe/news/7513/ish-edinburgh-comedy-awards-2023-results/ , title=British Comedy Guide - ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2023 Results, publisher=Comedy.co.uk , access-date=2024-01-03 {{cite web, url=https://entertainment-now.com/2023/08/inaugural-ish-award-announces-winners/ , title=Entertainment Now - Inaugural ISH Awards Announces Winners, publisher=entertainment-now.com/ , access-date=2024-01-03 {{cite web, url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2023/06/29/53428/comedy_fans_set_up_an_alternative_edinburgh_comedy_award , title=Chortle - Comedy And Set Up Alternative Edinburgh Comedy Award , publisher=Chortle.co.uk , access-date=2024-01-03 {{cite web, url=https://www.beyondthejoke.co.uk/content/13687/edinburgh-comedy-awards , title=Beyond The Joke - Alternative Edinburgh Comedy Awards Planned for 2023 , publisher=BeyondTheJoke.co.uk , access-date=2024-01-03 {{cite web, url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/fringe/news/7422/ish-edinburgh-comedy-awards-to-launch/ , title=British Comedy Guide - ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards to Launch , publisher=Comedy.co.uk , access-date=2024-01-03 {{cite web, url=http://www.edinburghcomedyawards.com/whoweare.html , title=ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards – Who We Are , publisher=EdinburghComedyAwards.com , access-date=2024-01-03 {{cite web, url=http://www.edinburghcomedyawards.com/about.html , title=ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards – About , publisher=EdinburghComedyAwards.com , access-date=2024-01-03 {{cite web, url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh2hC9ThgFs , title=Paul Foot BBC News on winning at the ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards , publisher=YouTube.com , access-date=2024-01-03 {{cite web, url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2023/08/14/53860/alternative_edinburgh_comedy_awards_announce_their_longlist , title=Chortle - Alternative Edinburgh Comedy Awards Announce Their Long List , publisher=Chortle.co.uk , access-date=2024-01-03 {{cite web, url=https://www.beyondthejoke.co.uk/content/13833/comedy-awards-longlist , title=Beyond The Joke - ISH Awards Announces Long List , publisher=BeyondTheJoke.co.uk , access-date=2024-01-03 {{cite web, url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2023/08/21/53949/alternative_edinburgh_awards_announce_shortlist , title=Chortle - Alternative Edinburgh Comedy Awards Announce Their Short List , publisher=Chortle.co.uk , access-date=2024-01-03 {{cite web, url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2024/04/30/55522/ish_edinburgh_comedy_award_lands_a_sponsor , title=Edinburgh Comedy Award Lands a Sponsor , publisher=Chortle.co.uk , access-date=2024-01-03 {{cite web, url=https://funnywomen.com/awards/ , title=2023 Funny Women Awards , publisher=FunnyWomen.com , access-date=2024-01-03 {{cite web, url=https://funnywomen.com/2023/09/18/meet-our-2023-industry-award-nominees-supported-by-the-comedy-crowd/ , title=Meet our 2023 Nominees , publisher=FunnyWomen.com , access-date=2024-01-03 {{cite web, url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/fringe/news/8024/ish-awards-winners-2024/ , title=British Comedy Guide - ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2024 Results, publisher=Comedy.co.uk , access-date=2024-01-03

External links

Official site
Edinburgh Festival Fringe awards