Edinburgh Comedy Awards
About Edinburgh Comedy Awards
The “Oscar’s of Comedy”
The undisputed and biggest prizes in the world of comedy, 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 were:
The Don and Eleanor Taffner Best Comedy Show
Amy Gledhill: Make Me Look Fit on the PosterThe DLT Entertainment Best Newcomer Award
Joe Kent-Walters is Frankie Monroe: LIVE!!!The Victoria Wood Award
Rob Copland: Gimme (One With Everything)
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.
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).
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.”