While the winners of Edinburgh Comedy Awards are decided one fateful morning by nine judges in a room plus the chair, if a casting vote is needed. The preparations for that exciting announcement are going on year round.
Heading up the awards, and therefore responsible for the team of judges, scouts (often former judges) and administrators associated with them, is the awards director and producer Nica Burns who took over running the awards in 1984.
Established in 1981, the Awards contest for the comedy crowns of Best Comedy Show and Best Newcomer has been dubbed 'The Oscars of Comedy' and has made headline news at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for four decades.
Longstanding Awards Director, Nica Burns OBE is the multi-award-winning producer of over 100 productions. She was Artistic Director at the Donmar Warehouse from 1983 to 1989 and Production Director of Stoll Moss and Really Useful Theatres from 1993 to 2005. She founded Nimax Theatres in 2005 and is Chief Executive and co-owner of the Palace, Lyric, Apollo, Garrick, Vaudeville and Duchess Theatres in London's West End. Working with her development partners Derwent London Ltd and ?Crossrail, she is building a new theatre on Charing Cross Road. In 2021 Nica was awarded Producer of the Year by The Stage newspaper in recognition of her tireless efforts to keep the theatre lights on and enabling work for so many during the Coronavirus pandemic. In 2022 the Critics' Circle awarded her a commendation for Exceptional Theatre Making During Lockdown, in particular for her ground-breaking Rising Stars Festival.
Supporting Nica in her work on Edinburgh Comedy Awards are:
Emma Brünjes - Producer
Laurence Miller - Producer
Liam Gartland - General Manager
Laura Wilkinson - Production Coordinator
Soraya Miller - Awards Assistant