Edinburgh Fringe
Edinburgh Comedy Awards winners announced
- Best Comedy Show: Amy Gledhill: Make Me Look Fit on the Poster
- Best Newcomer: Joe Kent-Walters for Joe Kent-Walters is Frankie Monroe: LIVE!!!
- The Victoria Wood Award: Rob Copland, performing Rob Copland: Gimme (One With Everything)
The winners of 2024's Edinburgh Comedy Awards have been announced at a ceremony in the city.
Hosted by Ahir Shah and Richard Osman (who was quick to break his own microphone), the awards, founded in 1981, are sponsored by DLT Entertainment and The Victoria Wood Foundation.
The prize money for Best Comedy Show is £10,000, with £5,000 each for the Best Newcomer and The Victoria Wood Award winner.
DLT Entertainment Best Newcomer
Joe Kent-Walters for Joe Kent-Walters is Frankie Monroe: LIVE!!!
Speaking to British Comedy Guide immediately after his win, Joe remarked: "Dead chuffed! [ha ha ha] Er ... Wow. Wow wow. What the Hell? I'm in Heaven."
The remaining nominations were: Abby Wambaugh: The First 3 Minutes of 17 Shows, Demi Adejuyigbe Is Going To Do One (1) Backflip, Jack Skipper: Skint and Jin Hao Li: Swimming in a Submarine.
The Victoria Wood Award
Rob Copland, who is performing Rob Copland: Gimme (One With Everything)
Copland won with only his second show at the festival, for honouring "the spirit and story of the Fringe". In an acceptance speech, he thanked and paid particular tribute to fellow comic John Kearns.
Speaking to BCG, he said: "I'm over the moon, I'm so, so happy. To be speaking to British Comedy Guide... two years ago I won your Comedians' Choice Award and I thought 'oh God, am I just for comedians?' but I've just won the panel prize and I guess I've got everyone on board now, so - wow wow!"
Don and Eleanor Taffner Best Comedy Show
Amy Gledhill: Make Me Look Fit on the Poster
She joked: "I saw the other people on the [nominees] list and thought 'I don't need to think of a speech'," before thanking her fellow nominee, best friend and Delightful Sausage double act partner Chris Cantrill.
Speaking at the end of the ceremony, she added: "I'm absolutely delighted, it's not sunk in. I don't think I'll process this for a while but I feel chuffed!"
Other nominees for the Don and Eleanor Taffner Best Comedy Show prize were as follows: Catherine Bohart: Again, With Feelings, Chris Cantrill: Easily Swayed, Josh Glanc: Family Man, Natalie Palamides: WEER, Reuben Kaye: Live and Intimidating and Sarah Keyworth: My Eyes Are Up Here.
This year's judging panel was chaired by Nana Hughes, Head of Scripted Comedy at ITV, with: 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 and theatre critic for The Times and The Sunday Times); Anya Ryan (comedy and theatre critic); and Darren Smith (Creative Director at DLT Entertainment).
The panel was completed by public members Sam Anderson, Jake Helliwell and Beth Moon.
Nica Burns CBE, Director of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, said: "[Amy and Joe] 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's 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 adds: "The Edinburgh Festival Fringe offers artists a space to be bold, original and spontaneous. A show can break through 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."