The ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards is back at the Edinburgh Fringe for a second year with new sponsor Jones Bootmaker, becoming the Jones Bootmaker ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards. There will be three prizes of £5,000 each for Best Show (won last year jointly by Paul Foot and Julia Masli), Best Newcomer and Panel Prize, with 100% of the sponsorship going on the prizes.
The panel of 30 volunteers are seeing around 700 eligible shows this year (in the comedy section of the brochure, on before the 15th and running til the 23rd, non-compilation) and a long-list will be released on the 15th August with the short-list announcement on the 20th and the winners announced at the ceremony at The Counting House Ballroom late night on the 23rd. There are showcase shows every Thu-Sun at the Fringe at 23:30 also in The Counting House Ballroom, featuring last year’s long-listers and halfway through the Fringe, this year’s. Lineups already announced include Phil Ellis, Huge Davies, Alexandra Haddow, Sid Singh, Eric Rushton, Seymour Mace, Fiona Ridgewell, Aaron Simmons, Kelly McCaughan, Milo Edwards, John Tothill, Mark Nelson, Cheekykita, Gareth Mutch and JoJo Sutherland, hosted by Nathan Cassidy with live music and singing from Hajar Woodland and Aidan Jones.
The awards were created by multi-award winning Nathan Cassidy, who is the only comedian to have performed live at the Fringe for the last 15 years (as he was the only live performer at the 2020 Fringe). Awards Producer Sarah Bowles won The Funny Women Comedy Industry Award partly for her work on the Awards.
Nathan Cassidy says, ‘I am thrilled that the ISH Awards now has the backing of the very lovely people at Jones Bootmaker. There is an incredible amount of good will towards the Awards from comedians, many of whom need more support, and being recognised in 2023 was a huge boost to their Fringe and for their future careers. I’ll always remember one comedian saying to us, ‘You’ve not only changed my Fringe, you’ve changed my life, as you’ve shown that people like me can be recognised.’ That we can repeat this support and recognition, and also give a few people some year-changing money this time around is superb.’
Sarah Bowles, Awards producer says ‘I am over the moon to have secured sponsorship this year and to carry on our support for comedians and the industry at a time where costs at the Edinburgh Fringe have ballooned. The Awards Showcases at the Fringe for this and last year’s long and short-listed comedians give us further opportunities to pay comedians for performing at the Fringe. Thanks to Alex Petty at the Free Festival and the team at the Counting House for their support.’
Dave Abbott, Head of Brand at Jones Bootmaker says: “We’re delighted to be stepping in as the sponsor of this year's ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards. It's a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the hard-working performers who make the Edinburgh Fringe one of the best festivals in the world. They perform great stand-up, we design great shoes, it’s a perfect fit!”
Those long and short-listed in 2023 included Ed Byrne, Seymour Mace, Lorna Rose Treen, Stuart Goldsmith, Phil Ellis, Louise Young, Huge Davies, Janine Harouni, Luke Kempner, Mark Nelson, Ania Magliano, MC Hammersmith, Paul Sinha, Phil Kay, Daniel Kitson, Frank Skinner and many, many more great comics. The 2023 Awards were won jointly for Best Show by Paul Foot and Julia Masli, and for Best Newcomer Dan Tiernan and Fiona Ridgewell. The Panel Prize was won by Mark Simmons and Danny Ward for their work on A Show for Gareth Richards. Paul Foot and Julia Masli have gone on to have hugely successful international tours following last year's Fringe.
The (ISH) Edinburgh Comedy Awards began in 2023, when the long-established Edinburgh Comedy Awards lost their funding and looked unlikely to go ahead in 2023. But after the Edinburgh Comedy Awards found new sponsors, the organisers of the ISH Awards decided to go ahead anyway because of a surge of support from comedians, producers, venues and Nica Burns who runs the Edinburgh Comedy Awards themselves.
Visit the website www.edinburghcomedyawards.com for more information on the awards, clips, eligibility criteria etc. Find out more about our sponsor at www.jonesbootmaker.com
ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards Showcases
Every Thu-Sun during the Fringe 23:30
The Counting House (Ballroom)
FREE ENTRY
Edfringe listing: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/jones-bootmaker-ish-edinburgh-comedy-awards-showcases
Lineups: http://www.edinburghcomedyawards.com/shows.html
