The winners of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards have been announced, presented by author and presenter Richard Osman and 2023 Best Comedy Show winner Ahir Shah. The Edinburgh Comedy Awards have discovered and nurtured generations of comedic talent since their inception in 1981, and the awards continue to launch or turbo-charge the careers of comedians from around the world.
The 2024 winners are:
- The Don and Eleanor Taffner Best Comedy Show
- Amy Gledhill: Make Me Look Fit on the Poster
- The DLT Entertainment Best Newcomer Award
- Joe Kent-Walters is Frankie Monroe: LIVE!!!
- The Victoria Wood Award
- Rob Copland: Gimme (One With Everything)
Nana Hughes, Chair of this year’s judging panel, and the other judges whittled down all 563 eligible comedy shows at this year’s Fringe to Wednesday’s shortlist of nominations, identifying seven nominees for The Don and Eleanor Taffer Best Comedy Show and five nominees for The DLT Entertainment Best Newcomer Award. The judges also announced today this year’s panel prize, The Victoria Wood Award, given to the performer whose show best represents the ‘spirit of the Fringe.’
For the first time in its 43-year-history, male comedians were in the minority on the shortlist for the Best Comedy Show and Amy Gledhill is the sixth solo female comedian to win Best Comedy Show.
Joe Kent-Walters, the winner of Best Newcomer, is the recipient of a Keep It Fringe bursary which enabled him to perform at the festival, a scheme funded by a £1 million grant over two years from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. This year it received 749 applications. The aim of the scheme is to help mitigate the financial challenge of bringing a show to Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which has helped nurture an outstanding talent in its first year.
Nica Burns CBE, Director of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, said:
“Our two winners this year share one thing: funny bones. They have a gift for comedy and have honed how best to use it. The result: gales of laughter and very happy audiences. Their comedy speaks to everyone - they are both clearly on their way to major stardom. I predict in a few years’ time they will be household names.
“Amy Gledhill’s show is joyful, delightful and full of laughter. The panel loved the fact that she blends writing that echoes the genius of Victoria Wood combined with the magical physicality of Julie Walters. It is a show packed with jokes and so much heart that everyone in the audience falls utterly in love with her and has a wonderful time.
“Joe Kent-Walters has created the extraordinary character of Frankie Monroe, which is both a love letter and satirisation of a working man’s club MC. His accomplishment is such that it is hard to believe this is Joe’s first Fringe hour. Joe draws on a range of skills including pantomime, musical comedy and stand up to bring you into Frankie’s world. Like many of the greats, everyone who has seen him this year will boast in future years that they saw Joe Kent-Walters’ show the year that he won Best Newcomer.
“Our 2024 winners are great comics who fill the room with jokes and laughter and appeal to all. As shown by our brilliant shortlist the standard of comedy at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe has been extraordinary.”
Nana Hughes, Chair of the judging panel, said:
“The Edinburgh Festival Fringe offers artists a space to be bold, original and spontaneous. A show can breakthrough and find an audience here. Recommendations from strangers in queues for other shows can lead to exciting new discoveries; the phrase ‘have you seen’ being uttered in late night bars, audiences lining pavements outside venues vying for tickets. This is the true spirit of the fringe. Our Victoria Wood Award Winner, Rob Copland, seized this spirit with both hands, in a performance which barely pauses for breath and yet ends with 10 minutes of silence. In only his second full year at the festival he has established himself as a cult favourite and created a legion of fans for his eccentricity and bravery.”
The Judging Panel
Nana Hughes: Head of Scripted Comedy at ITV
Dominic Cavendish: Theatre Critic at The Daily Telegraph
Liz Daramola: Creator in Residence at Baby Cow Productions
Georgia Keating: Producer at BBC Studios Comedy & Entertainment
Dominic Maxwell: Comedy & Theatre Critic for The Times and The Sunday Times
Anya Ryan Comedy & Theatre Critic at The Guardian, The Times, Time Out, The Stage
Darren Smith: Creative Director at DLT Entertainment Ltd
Sam Anderson: Public panellist
Jake Helliwell: Public panellist
Beth Moon: Public panellist
The Edinburgh Comedy Awards has a proven history of spotting comedy brilliance. Past winners have amassed 528 television writing credits, 44 directing credits and over 1,500 acting credits, and nominees have 534 writing credits, 72 directing credits and over 1,200 acting credits on screen. Best Newcomer nominee Alex Horne created the BAFTA award-winning TV series Taskmaster, which has had appearances from 36 winners and nominees across its 18 series.
