Tania Edwards wins Amused Moose Comedy Award 2018
- Tania Edwards has won the Amused Moose Comedy Award 2018
- Damian Clark picked up the People's Champion award
- Police Cops In Space was named Outstanding Fringe Show
Tania Edwards has won the Amused Moose Comedy Award 2018.
Edwards, who is performing a show at the Edinburgh Fringe called Not My Dog, was selected by judges at the live final, which took place at the festival earlier this evening (Sunday 19th August). It saw eight acts perform 10 minute extracts from their shows.
Damian Clark, who joked about looking after his new baby and is performing a show at the Fringe called Damian Clark: Extra Show, picked up the People's Champion trophy, which was voted for by the audience.
Meanwhile the jury named fast-paced comic theatre production Police Cops in Space - performed by The Pretend Men trio - as the Outstanding Fringe Show.
The final, hosted by Paul Sinha, also featured Anesti Danelis, Ken Cheng, Tom Little, Laura Lexx and Liam Withnail.
This competition, established in 2011, seeks the best of Edinburgh Fringe comedy shows by performers "on the cusp of a starry future". Entry to the Amused Moose Comedy Award, the 'senior strand' of the Amused Moose Comedy Awards, was open to all shows in the comedy section of the Edinburgh Fringe website for at least 18 dates, by performers whose live shows had not been previously won or been nominated for another major comedy award. In total, over 140 shows were involved.
The organisers explain: "The audience and large contingent of comedy industry guests all voted, and the results were ratified by a 'comedy industry' jury who at the Edinburgh Fringe had watched all the longlisted shows live, which influenced the final outcome of award winners. All entries had initially been viewed-and-voted-for online by a large international panel to select the longlist."
The winners were presented with their awards by Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive at Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society.
The Amused Moose Comedy Award showcase will take place at the Soho Theatre in London on Monday 22nd October.