About
‘The Oscars of
Comedy’
The Edinburgh Comedy Awards, dubbed ‘The Oscars of Comedy’, are the most prestigious honours in live comedy, celebrating outstanding performances at the world-famous Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Established in 1981, the Awards have made headline news at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for four decades.
Awards
Audible
Best Comedy Show
For the funniest, most outstanding, up-and-coming comic/comedy show/act at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The prize is £10,000.
The Taffner Family
Best Newcomer
For the performer or act who is performing their first full-length show (50 minutes or more) at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The prize is £5,000.
Audible
Panel Prize
Like the Fringe itself, there are no rules. Everyone is eligible. It is entirely in the gift of the Panel and Award Director and may not be awarded at all. The prize is £5,000.
Eligibility Rules
The Edinburgh Comedy Awards, the UK’s premier awards for live comedy, now in their 46th year.
There are 3 Awards:
Best Comic / Comedy Show For the funniest, most outstanding, up-and-coming comic/comedy show/act at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The prize is £10,000.
Best Newcomer For the performer or act who is performing their first full-length show (50 minutes or more) at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The prize is £5,000. Please note that newcomers are eligible for the Best Comedy Show Award, if that is the Panel’s decision, but no act can appear on both shortlists in the same year.
The shortlists will be announced on Wednesday 26 August 2026.
The Panel Prize like the Fringe itself, there are no rules. Everyone is eligible. It is entirely in the gift of the Panel and Award Director and may not be awarded at all. The prize is £5,000.
The winners of all three Awards will be announced on Saturday 29 August 2026.
The show must have opened by Thursday 20th August 2026 and have at least eight public performances between Thursday 20th August and Friday 28th August 2026 including Wednesday 26th, Thursday 27th & Friday 28th August. If the show opened prior to 20th August, then only five performances need to be performed between 20th and 28th August and at least two of these must be after the shortlist is announced.
For both the Best Comedy and Best Newcomer award, the show must be stand-up, character comedy, sketch/revue or comedy musical. The material must be unique to the performer / show. Comedy plays are not eligible. Comedy music acts are eligible, but must be performing their own material, not cover numbers, although pastiche and rewriting is eligible. Bill shows are not eligible but where individual acts combine into a single show which is fully inter-relating, it will be judged on overall merit, not on an individual basis. Established acts should have substantially new material since the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025. Performing other people’s material e.g. classic Victoria Wood, Frankie Howard or Bill Hicks, etc. is not eligible. For the avoidance of doubt, ‘unique’ means material written by the act and their collaborators (co-writer, director, etc).
BEST COMEDY SHOW
Acts considered to have ‘star’ status are not eligible for the Edinburgh Best Comedy Award. For the purposes of this Award a ‘star’ is defined as any act who has starred in a television comedy or light entertainment on a major channel, streaming platform or regularly fills a 500-plus seat venue on their own name. For the avoidance of doubt, major channels are the former terrestrial television channels of BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky 1 and Dave; streaming platforms include but not limited to are Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Britbox, Now and YouTube. One-off or ‘guest’ appearances in a television comedy or light entertainment series or appearing in shows as a panel member on a major channel or streaming platform where your name is not above the title do not disqualify an act. For avoidance of doubt, the quantity of an act’s social media followers on short form content platforms does not affect their eligibility. (Platforms include but not limited to TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter)
Please note that these rules apply to all shows including international acts, where the status in their home countries will apply.
For the avoidance of doubt, where any grey areas occur, the live rule will be dominant.
BEST NEWCOMER SHOW
Acts considered for the Newcomer Award is any performer/act who is performing their first full-length show (50 minutes or more) at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. A performer who has appeared in a previous show at the Edinburgh Festival as part of a sketch show or an international performer who is not a star in their own country but who may be a seasoned performer is eligible. If a performer was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award as part of a group, then subsequently presents a solo show for the first time at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe they are eligible for the Newcomer Award.
All shows for both awards must have a listed and playing time of at least 50 minutes.
Previous winners of the Best Comedy Show Awards formerly called the Perrier Award, Intelligent Finance Comedy Award, Fosters Edinburgh Comedy Award, lastminute.com Edinburgh Comedy Award and Dave’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards are not eligible.
NOTE
All shows listed in the Comedy section of the official Edinburgh Festival Fringe Guide are automatically considered for the Best Comedy Show or Best Newcomer award in accordance with these rules. Shows or acts do not need to apply for the awards.
If you are not in the official Edinburgh Festival Fringe Guide and believe you are eligible, please contact the awards team on: info@comedyawards.co.uk.
If you are listed in the Cabaret section with a sub-genre of Comedy and would like to be considered, please contact the Awards Administration team on info@comedyawards.co.uk.
How The Awards Are Judged
All shows listed in the comedy section of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe brochure are automatically checked for eligibility. Shows need to be playing the dates as outlined in the eligibility rules in order for the shows to be judged. If you think you are eligible, but are not in this category, please email info@comedyawards.co.uk.
All eligible shows are seen by the judging panel, awards administration team and scouts, who start covering shows from the first day of the festival. The judging panel consists of comedy and theatre critics, TV, radio and live comedy producers and commissioners. The scouts are previous members of the panel.
How The Judging Works Day By Day
A Judging Panel of 10 is selected by Nica Burns, Director of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards since 1984. It consists of 7 professionals – comedy and theatre critics, TV, radio and live comedy producers and commissioners – and 3 members of the public. The public panellists are comedy enthusiasts and regular paying audience members at comedy performances and apply to be on the panel through an open competition.
A master list of shows to cover is drawn up when the Fringe programme is printed. The Awards Administration goes through all the shows listed in the official Edinburgh Festival Fringe Guide in the Comedy category. Each entry is checked to ensure that it complies with the rules, e.g. that it is not a comedy play, that it is original and that it is playing the dates specified.
The Awards Administration starts scheduling all the eligible shows from the first day of the Festival. The Awards Administration ensures that every show on the list is seen. As each show is seen, if merit is found in the show, then the Awards Producer sends more panellists to see it. The Awards Producer organises the panel members’ and support teams’ schedules and keeps a record of who has seen which show as the list is ticked off. If a panel member has noticed an omission from the list, or if a show has been inaccurately described and may be eligible, then it is covered just in case. If a group contacts the Awards Administration asking to be seen, it is also checked in accordance with rules.
Sunday, end of Week 2: The Panel meets to discuss the shows it has seen so far. By this point every show has been viewed by at least a scout or panellist. Every single show is discussed, and a longlist of top shows emerges. The panel then continue to see shows including any of the longlist shows they have not seen.
Wednesday Week 3: The Panel meets to decide on the shortlist. The remaining shows are debated again, until they are honed down to a shortlist by process of a vote which is overseen by the Panel Lawyer. The Panel then sees as many of the shortlisted shows as is possible between Wednesday evening and Friday night.
Saturday Week 3: The Panel has its final meeting and decides on the winner after discussing all the shortlisted shows in great detail. The final vote is a written secret ballot, which is overseen by the Director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society and the Panel Lawyer.
Our 2026 Sponsors
Audible
Audible is proud to sponsor the Edinburgh Comedy Awards.
Audible, an Amazon company, is a leading creator and provider of premium audio storytelling, offering customers a new way to enhance and enrich their lives every day. Audible.co.uk content includes more than 900,000 audiobooks, podcasts, and Audible Originals. Audible serves millions of members in over 180 countries with content in more than 50 languages; members download nearly 4 billion hours of content annually and listen across a wide range of supported devices.
DLT Entertainment Ltd
DLT Entertainment is a leading independent producer and distributor based in London and New York with comedy at the heart of its business. DLT’s innovations have fostered growth of programme sales, co- productions, format sales and new methods of production and distribution which are now industry standards. Family owned since its inception in 1963, DLT was at the forefront of the television format business with over 10 UK formats produced in the US by DLT including Three’s Company based upon Thames TV’s Man About The House. DLT solidified its UK connection through selling multiple British comedies to the US, including Minder, The IT Crowd and Miranda. On the TV production side in the UK, DLT is the producer of many hit classic comedies including As Time Goes By and My Family. DLT also produced British comedy-panel game show Dara O’Briain’s Go 8 Bit and Monster Court, both projects discovered at the Fringe. The Shaftesbury Theatre, which is owned and managed by DLT, has hosted a number of comedians over the years including Sara Pascoe, Baddiel and Skinner, French and Saunders, and Eddie Izzard. DLT has expanded into audio production including with Time Of The Week produced for BBC Radio 4.
Who We Are
Nica
Burns CBE
Awards Director
Emma
Brünjes
Producer
Laurence
Miller
Producer
Laura
Wilkinson
Producer
Soraya
Wagstaff
Production Coordinator
Eleni
Cashell
Social Media Manager
Caitlin
Allen
Publicist
Niamh
Houston
Publicist