Today, ‘the Oscars of Comedy’, the Edinburgh Comedy Awards has revealed the shortlist for the two biggest prizes in comedy: The Taffner Family Best Comedy Show and The DLT Entertainment Best Newcomer. Now celebrating their 45th year at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Awards have launched generations of comedic talent and remain the benchmark of excellence in the industry. This year’s judging panel, chaired by Sam Bryant, reached their decision after an extensive process in which the panel and scouts collectively watched every one of the 500+ eligible shows, amounting to more than 1,200 viewings.

 

The 2025 nominees showcase a dazzling breadth of comedic voices, delving into subjects as varied as familial grief, identity, gender identity, sexuality, health, love, relationships, and even pigeons. Running through their work is an exploration of what shapes a sense of self - whether it’s the influence of family, the impact of health, the place you grow up, or the way the world responds to you.

 

The nominations are:

 

 

 

Nica Burns CBE, Director of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, said: "2025 is another outstanding year of great comedy. Many of those shortlisted will be the stars of tomorrow. It is going to be a very exciting race to find the eventual winners with two brilliant lists of nominees for The Taffner Family Best Comedy Show and the DLT Entertainment Best Newcomer, which this year is female-led. The performers nominated cover a huge amount of topics, with acts from three continents giving diverse perspectives.”

 

Sam Bryant, Chair of the judging panel, said: “The landscape of comedy is expanding, with audio now playing a huge part in how comedians build their profiles and connect with audiences. It’s a thrilling moment where the live Fringe stage sits alongside podcasts and digital platforms as stepping stones in a comedian’s career. The Edinburgh Comedy Awards have always been a launchpad for the next generation of talent, and that role feels more important than ever. Our panel and scouts dedicated themselves to the process, seeing more than 1,200 hours of comedy across the festival, to ensure that this year’s shortlists reflect the breadth of voices, styles and opportunities shaping the future of the art form.”

 

 

The Nominees’ photocall will be at 8:30am on Thursday 21st August at McIntosh Theatre, Gilded Balloon, Appleton Tower

The Edinburgh Comedy Awards Gala 2025 will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday 21st August at 23:00, and available to catch up on BBC Sounds.

 

The 45th Edinburgh Comedy Awards ceremony 2024 winner Amy Gledhill, alongside some very special guests will take place on Saturday 23rd August 2025 at Ghillie Dhu, 2 Rutland Place, Edinburgh EH1 2AD when the final winners are announced.

 

Sam Bryant: Director of Original Content and Comedy Commissioner, Audible (Chair)

Josh Buckingham: Executive Producer, Hat Trick Productions

Ashley Davies: Freelance Arts Journalist, Metro, Times Scotland, Scotsman

Shukri Dirie: Development Producer, Scripted, BBC TalentWorks

Tristram Fane Saunders: Freelance Journalist and Comedy Critic, The Telegraph and Editor of The Little Review

Rachael Healy: Arts journalist and critic at The Observer and The Guardian

James Robinson: Executive Producer, BBC Studios Audio

Janet Jackson: Public panellist

Krishna Kapur: Public panellist

Justine Teasdale: Public panellist

 

The Edinburgh Comedy Awards has a proven history of spotting comedy brilliance. Past winners have amassed 534 television writing credits, 45 directing credits and over 1,500 acting credits, and nominees have 549

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 40 winners and nominees across its 20 series.

 

Responsible for launching the careers of the UK’s comedy elite, previous award winners include Stephen Fry, Steve Coogan, Lee Evans, Al Murray, Sarah Millican, Omid Djalili, Eddie Izzard, Tim Minchin, The League of

Gentlemen, Jenny Eclair and Frank Skinner. Founded in 1981, many award winners and nominees have gone on to have a significant impact on mainstream popular culture, going on to write, direct and act on screen, in some of the most iconic television and film over the last four decades, including Green Wing and Smack The Pony (Victoria Pile), Sherlock (Mark Gatiss), Alan Partridge and Philomena (Steve Coogan), Car Share (Peter Kay), The IT Crowd (Richard Ayoade), Benidorm and No.9 (Steve Pemberton), Doctor Who and her eponymous TV show (Catherine Tate), W1A (Sara Pascoe), Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (Romesh

Ranganathan), Sex Education (Hannah Gadsby), Baby Reindeer (Richard Gadd) and Starstruck (Rose Matafeo).