The

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

's Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Awards, and also briefly known by other names for sponsorship reasons) are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. Established in 1981, they are the most prestigious comedy prize in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The awards have been directed and produced by

Nica Burns Lounica Maureen Patricia "Nica" Burns OBE (born August 1954) is a London theatre producer and co-owner with her business partner Max Weitzenhoffer of the Nimax Theatres group, comprising six West End theatres: the Palace, Lyric, Apollo, Ga ...

since 1984.

Format

The main prize, which was for many years the only prize, and is now known as the Best Comedy Show, is awarded "for the funniest, most outstanding, up-and-coming comic / comedy show / act" at the Fringe. The winner receives a cash prize of £10,000. The Best Newcomer Award category was introduced in 1992 for Harry Hill, and is given to the best "performer or act who is performing their first full-length show (50 minutes or more)". The prize is £5,000. Newcomers are eligible for the Best Comedy Show Award, but no act is allowed to appear on both shortlists in the same year. A further prize, the Panel Prize, was inaugurated in 2006. All shows are eligible, and the award may not be awarded at all, if the panel so choose. This happened in 2017, when for the first time there were joint winners of the main prize. Previously, in 2008, it had been awarded to "every comedian on the Fringe". Like Best Newcomer, the Panel Prize winner receives a cash prize of £5,000.

History

The original award was created by

Perrier Perrier ( , also , ) is a French brand of natural bottled mineral water obtained at its source in Vergèze, located in the Gard ''département''. Perrier is known for its carbonation and its distinctive green bottle. Perrier was part of the ...

in 1981 as a way of supporting young talent. Prior to this, there had been no award recognition for comedy shows on the Fringe. ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'' had introduced Fringe Firsts in 1973 for theatre. However, revues, then the dominant type of comedy at the Fringe, were excluded. The first Perrier in fact advertised itself as for the "most outstanding revue", thus overlooking stand-up, which was beginning to emerge as a force due to the influence of the

alternative comedy Alternative comedy is a term coined in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era. The phrase has had different connotations in different contexts: in the UK, it was used to describe ...

scene. The inaugural award and £1,000 prize was presented to the

Cambridge Footlights Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University. History Footlights' inaugural ...

, a cast that included

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

Emma Thompson Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress. Regarded as one of the best actresses of her generation, she has received numerous accolades throughout her four-decade-long career, including two Academy Awards, two British A ...

Hugh Laurie James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and musician. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. The two men acted together in a ...

and

Tony Slattery Tony Declan James Slattery (born 9 November 1959) is an English actor and comedian. He appeared on British television regularly from the mid-1980s, most notably as a regular on the Channel 4 improvisation show ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' His ...

. Their show, entitled ''The Cellar Tapes'' played at St Mary Street Hall and was promoted in the programme with the line, "one of the strongest casts for several years, has already toured in southern England with great success." The award was presented by

Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles on the sitcoms '' Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and ''Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and the film series ''Johnny English'' (2003–201 ...

, who had performed with the

Oxford Revue The Oxford Revue is a comedy group primarily featuring students from Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University, England. Founded in the early 1950s, The Oxford Revue has produced many prominent comedians, actors and satirists. The Revue w ...

in 1976. The later success of these initial winners would boost the profile of the awards. However, former

Oxbridge Oxbridge is a portmanteau of Oxford and Cambridge, the two oldest, wealthiest, and most famous universities in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collectively, in contrast to other British universities, and more broadly to de ...

revue members had always been able to find success in light entertainment, so the effect of the award on their careers may be exaggerated. Nonetheless, the 1981 Award retains symbolic power for new comedians wanting to find fame at the Fringe. Many other award winners and nominees have gone on to forge successful careers in comedy and the media industry including Lee Evans,

Milton Jones Milton Hywel Jones (born 16 May 1964) is an English comedian. His style of humour is based on one-liners involving puns delivered in a deadpan and slightly neurotic style. Jones has had various shows on BBC Radio 4 and was a recurring guest pa ...

, ''

Garth Marenghi's Darkplace ''Garth Marenghi's Darkplace'' is a British horror parody television series created by Richard Ayoade and Matthew Holness for Channel 4. The show focuses on fictional horror author Garth Marenghi (played by Holness) and his publisher Dean ...

'' creators

Richard Ayoade Richard Ellef Ayoade ( ; born 23 May 1977) is a British actor, comedian, broadcaster and filmmaker. He is best known for his role as socially awkward IT technician Maurice Moss in Channel 4 sitcom ''The IT Crowd'' (2006–2013), for which he ...

and

Matt Holness Matthew James Holness (born 1975) is an English comedian, writer, director, and actor. He is best known for creating and playing the fictional horror author Garth Marenghi. Early life and education Born in Whitstable, Kent, Holness became a ...

, double act

Alexander Armstrong Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong (born 2 March 1970) is an English actor, comedian, radio personality, television presenter and singer. He is the host of the BBC One game show ''Pointless'', as well as the morning show on Classic FM. He is ...

and

Ben Miller Bennet Evan Miller (born 24 February 1966) is an English actor, comedian, and author. He rose to fame as one half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller. Miller is also known for playing the lead role of DI Richard Poole in the first two serie ...

, '' QI'' panellist

Alan Davies Alan Roger Davies (; born 6 March 1966) is an English stand-up comedian, writer, actor and TV presenter. He is best known for his portrayal of the title role in the BBC mystery drama series ''Jonathan Creek'' (1997–2016) and as the only perm ...

and ''

Mock the Week ''Mock the Week'' is a British topical satirical celebrity panel show, created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson. It was produced by Angst Productions for BBC Two, and was broadcast from 5 June 2005 to 4 November 2022. The programme was present ...

'' panellist

Chris Addison Christopher David Addison (born 5 November 1971) is a British comedian, writer, actor, and director. He is perhaps best known for his role as a regular panellist on ''Mock the Week''. He is also known for his lecture-style comedy shows, two of ...

. Australian Comedian Brendon Burns has said that he is "arguably the least successful winner" of the award. A stand-up first won the award in 1987. Sean Hughes was the youngest winner of the award, at the age of 24 in 1990. A Best Newcomer Award was added in 1992, won by

Harry Hill Matthew Keith Hall (born 1 October 1964), known professionally as Harry Hill, is an English comedian, presenter and writer. He pursued a career in stand-up following years working as a medical doctor, developing an off-beat, energetic performan ...

, and in 2006 the inaugural Panel Prize was won by

Mark Watson Mark Andrew Watson (born 13 February 1980) is a British comedian and novelist. Early life Watson was born in Bristol to a Welsh mother and English father. He has younger twin sisters and a brother, Paul. He attended Bristol Grammar School, wh ...

. The panel prize was awarded to 'all performers' in 2008, and the £4,000 prize money was put behind their bar at the end of August party. 2013 was the first year that all three awards went to shows in independent venues outside the so-called 'big four'. John Kearns (PBH) won Best Newcomer, Bridget Christie (The Stand) won Best Show and

Adrienne Truscott Adrienne Truscott is a choreographer, dancer, and stand-up comedian. She won the Edinburgh Comedy Awards Panel Prize and Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe for her show ''Adrienne Truscott's Asking ...

(Heroes @ Bob's Bookshop) won the panel prize. In 2014, John Kearns became the first comedian to win Best Newcomer and Best Comedy Show in consecutive years. In 2017, for the first time, two awards were given for Best Show ( John Robins and

Hannah Gadsby Hannah Gadsby (born 1978) is an Australian comedian, writer, and actress. She began her career in Australia after winning the national final of the Raw Comedy competition for new comedians in 2006. In 2018, her show '' Nanette'' on Netflix won ...

). No panel prize was awarded in 2017. In 2018,

Rose Matafeo Rose Catherine Lettitia Matafeo (; born 25 February 1992) is a New Zealand comedian, actress, and TV presenter. She was a writer and performer on the New Zealand late-night comedy sketch show ''Funny Girls''. In 2018, she won the Edinburgh Comed ...

became the first person of colour to win Best Comedy Show for a solo show, and the first New Zealander to win the award. Only four other female solo stand-up comedians had won the award before her:

Jenny Eclair Jenny Eclair (born Jenny Clare Hargreaves; 16 March 1960) is an English comedian, novelist, and actress, best known for her roles in ''Grumpy Old Women'' between 2004 and 2007 and in '' Loose Women'' in 2011 and 2012. Early life Eclair was born ...

(1995),

Laura Solon Laura Madalene Solon (born April 1979) is an English screenwriter, comedian, actress, and winner of the 2005 Perrier Comedy Award. She was the second woman to win as a solo performer, after Jenny Eclair in 1995. Background Solon was raised in G ...

(2005), Bridget Christie (2013), and

(2017).

Sponsorship

From their inception in 1981 until 2005 the awards were sponsored by mineral water brand

, during which time they were known as the Perrier Comedy Awards. Sponsorship then passed to the Scottish-based bank Intelligent Finance and for 2006, the first year of their involvement, the awards were known as the if.comeddies, changing to the if.comedy awards for 2007 and 2008. In March 2009 Intelligent Finance announced it would not be renewing its sponsorship deal. The 2009 awards were known as the Edinburgh Comedy Award, sponsored by AbsoluteRadio.co.uk. From 2010 until 2015 the awards were sponsored by

Foster's Lager Foster's Lager is an internationally-distributed brand of lager. It is owned by the international brewing group Asahi Group Holdings, and is brewed under licence in a number of countries, including its biggest market, the UK, where the Europe ...

. From 2016 the awards have been sponsored by lastminute.com until 2019 when

began to sponsor the awards. In order to avoid confusion due to the frequency of name changes, past winners are now often said to have won "the Eddie", a popular colloquial term for the award, rather than referring to a specific year's sponsor.

Controversy

Nestlé

In 1995, Perrier was bought by

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...

, the subject of a long-running

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...

based on alleged violations of the

International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes The International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (also known as the WHO Code) is an international health policy framework for breastfeeding promotion adopted by the World Health Assembly (WHA) of the World Health Organization (WHO) in ...

, leading to calls to boycott or to eliminate the awards taken up by some Fringe venues and performers, including former winners

Steve Coogan Stephen John Coogan (; born 14 October 1965) is an English actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. He is most known for creating original characters such as Alan Partridge, a socially inept and politically incorrect media personality, which ...

Stewart Lee Stewart Graham Lee (born 5 April 1968) is an English comedian, screenwriter, and television director. His stand-up routine is characterised by repetition, internal reference, deadpan delivery, and consistent breaking of the fourth wall. Lee b ...

and Rob Newman, led a campaign of protest against the award, beginning in 2001, called Baby Milk Action. The Nestlé boycott also led to the alternative ''Tap Water Awards'' which ran from 2001 to 2006, and aimed to promote access to safe supplies of drinking water and sanitation in developing countries; these awards were suspended for 2007 due to "having beaten Nestlé". Multiple winners were chosen each year, including established comedians like Stewart Lee and Robert Newman, and, in the award's final year, promoter Peter Buckley Hill for his Free Fringe initiative.

Inclusivity

The 2002 awards were criticised because no female acts were shortlisted, the second consecutive year in which that was the case. In 2009, they were again criticised for all the nominees being male, as well as all being white, English and all performing at the same venue, The Pleasance.

Notes

{{Reflist, 2, refs= {{Cite news , author=Arika Akbar , url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre/news/saunders-bemoans-absence-of-female-standup-comedians-760104.html , title=Saunders Bemoans Absence of Female Standup Comedians , work=

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

, publisher=independent.co.uk (Arts & Entertainment) , date=2007-11-23 , access-date=2008-05-05 {{cite news , title=Perrier Ends Edinburgh Comedy Tie , url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5078940.stm , publisher=

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

, date=2006-06-14 , access-date=2008-05-05 {{cite web , url=http://www.babymilkaction.org/ , title=Baby Milk Action , access-date=2008-05-05 {{Cite news , url = http://www.babymilkaction.org/www.babymilkaction.org/press/press14june06.html , title = Nestlé Pulls Plug on Perrier Award , work = Press Release , publisher = babymilkaction.org , date = 2006-06-14 , access-date = 2008-05-05 , url-status = dead , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080610134552/http://www.babymilkaction.org/www.babymilkaction.org/press/press14june06.html , archive-date = 10 June 2008 {{cite news , title=Boycott Perrier: Newman Calls for Corporate Protest , url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2001/07/24/3217/boycott_perrier , work=Chortle: The UK Comedy Guide , date=2001-07-24 , access-date=2009-05-05 {{cite web, url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/3646086/Edinburgh-reports-time-to-stand-up-for-the-Perrier.html, title=Edinburgh reports: time to stand up for the Perrier, last=Cavendish, first=Dominic, date=2005-08-24, work=The Daily Telegraph, location=London, access-date=2009-06-04 {{cite web, url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2009/06/03/9006/no_ifs..., title=No ifs..., publisher=chortle.co.uk, access-date=2009-06-05 {{cite web, url=http://www.comedyawards.co.uk/judging.asp , title=Eligibility Rules – Edinburgh Comed , publisher=Comedyawards.co.uk , access-date=2017-02-25 "Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Awards"
Retrieved 13 August 2010 {{cite web, url=https://www.ft.com/content/556c767a-962c-11de-84d1-00144feabdc0, title=Edinburgh Fringe Awards, website=Financial Times, access-date=8 September 2018, last=Shuttleworth, first=Ian {{cite news, url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/aug/26/edinburgh-comedy-awards-2015-the-nominations-in-full , title=Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2015: The nominees in full , newspaper=The Guardian , access-date=2015-08-26 {{cite web, url=http://www.hideawaylive.co.uk/live-standup-comedy-2611 , title=Live Stand-Up Comedy | HIDEAWAY – London's premier live music and comedy club , publisher=Hideawaylive.co.uk , access-date=2017-02-25 {{Cite news , url = http://www.if.com/eddies/pressrelease140606.pdf , title = Intelligent Sponsor for the Oscars of Comedy , work = Press release , publisher = if.com , date = 2006-06-14 , access-date = 2008-05-05 , url-status = dead , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090920054812/http://www.if.com/eddies/pressrelease140606.pdf , archive-date = 20 September 2009 {{cite web, url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/jun/03/edinburgh-comedy-awards-nica-burns, title=Can Nica Burns save the comedy awards formerly known as Perrier?, last=Lee, first=Veronica, date=2009-06-03, website=Guardian.co.uk, access-date=2009-06-04 {{cite news , author=Andy McSmith , title=Edinburgh comedy prize loses its sponsor , url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/news/edinburgh-comedy-prize-loses-its-sponsor-1650599.html , work=

, date=2009-03-21 , access-date=2009-05-18 {{cite web , author=Nica Burns , author-link=Nica Burns , url=http://www.if.com/eddies/history.html , title=The Birth of the Comedy Awards: Nica Burns Looks Back , access-date=2008-05-05 , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509164046/http://www.if.com/eddies/history.html , archive-date=9 May 2008 {{cite web, url=http://www.edfringe.com/story.html?id=117 , title=Past winners of the Perrier Comedy Award , date=2009-05-01 , publisher=edfringe.com , access-date=2009-06-05 , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050414202416/http://www.edfringe.com/story.html?id=117 , archive-date=14 April 2005 {{cite web, author=Hello , url=http://www.thescarboroughnews.co.uk/what-s-on/theatre/comic-has-all-answers-1-1470539 , title=Comic has all answers , publisher=The Scarborough News , access-date=2017-02-25 {{cite web , title=Comedy Judges 'myopic' for Pleasance picks , work=The Scotsman , url=http://news.scotsman.com/entertainment/Comedy-judges-39myopic39-for-.5596777.jp , access-date=28 August 2009 {{cite news , newspaper=

, title=Artistic anarchy: 70 years of Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival , last=Searle , first=Maddy , url=https://inews.co.uk/essentials/culture/arts/artistic-anarchy-70-years-edinburghs-fringe-festival/ , date=11 July 2017 , access-date=13 October 2017 {{cite news , author=Imogen Tilden , title=Perrier Judges Name the Cream of Edinburgh's Comedy , url=https://www.theguardian.com/edinburghfestival2001/story/0,10640,540846,00.html , work=

guardian.co.uk TheGuardian.com, formerly known as Guardian.co.uk and ''Guardian Unlimited'', is a British news and media website owned by the Guardian Media Group. It contains nearly all of the content of the newspapers ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer'', ...

, date=2001-08-22 , access-date=2008-05-05 {{cite web , url=http://www.tapwaterawards.org/ , title=Tap Water Awards: Having beaten Nestlé, we're having a rest , access-date=2011-03-25 {{cite magazine , title=How Comedy Captured the Edinburgh Fringe: Part 2 , last=Venables , first=Ben , magazine= The Skinny , url=http://www.theskinny.co.uk/comedy/opinion/how-comedy-captured-the-edinburgh-fringe-part-2 , date=6 June 2017 , access-date=13 October 2017 {{cite magazine , title=How Comedy Captured the Edinburgh Fringe: Part 4 , last=Venables , first=Ben , magazine= The Skinny , url=http://www.theskinny.co.uk/comedy/opinion/how-comedy-captured-the-edinburgh-fringe-part-4 , date=6 June 2017 , access-date=13 October 2017 {{cite magazine, last=Venables , first=Ben , magazine=

Fest Fest may refer to: * Fest, Danish/German/Norwegian/Swedish/Breton for party * Fest, a type of festival * The Fest, music festival in Gainesville, Florida * Joachim Fest (1926–2006), German historian and journalist * ''Fest Magazine'', is an Edin ...

, title=The Edinburgh Fringe, or The Great Big Comedy Takeover , url=https://www.festmag.co.uk/comedy/103800-the-edinburgh-fringe-the-great-big-comedy-takeover , date=22 July 2017 , access-date=13 October 2017

External links

Official site
British comedy and humour awards Scottish awards 1981 establishments in Scotland Awards established in 1981 Scottish comedy Edinburgh Festival Fringe Culture in Edinburgh