- Nominees from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Australia and North America
- Strong regional voices from across the UK from the Midlands, Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear in the north to Sussex in the south and Essex in the east
- Character comedy, stand-up, confessional story-telling, observational comedy, musical comedy, songs and a double act
- First solo transgender nomination
- Male and female millennials
- A partially sighted and a partially deaf comedian
24th August
Long-standing Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards Director Nica Burns, has today announced the nominees for the biggest prizes in live comedy, Best Comedy Show and Best Newcomer Awards, celebrating the best of both established and up- and-coming comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Nica Burns, Director of Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards, says of this year's nominees,
2022 has indeed been a bumper year with a high standard of comedy across the Fringe. Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards' nominees represent a wide-range of comedy genres created by comedians whose material is drawn from their rich range of backgrounds and experiences. The Fringe has bounced back with a bang, with audiences clearly enjoying laughing together, live.
Cherie Cunningham, Channel Director Dave, says,
Spending two weeks immersed in a whirlwind of fantastic comedy at the Fringe has been a magical experience. It is inspiring to find so much great talent that is our comedy future.
This year's nominees for Best Comedy Show are:
- Alfie Brown: Sensitive Man @ Monkey Barrel Comedy
- Colin Hoult: The Death of Anna Mann @ Pleasance Courtyard, Beneath
- Jordan Gray: Is It a Bird? @ Assembly, George Square
- Josh Pugh: Sausage, Egg, Josh Pugh, Chips and Beans @ Monkey Barrel Comedy
- Larry Dean: Fudnut @Monkey Barrel Comedy
- Lauren Pattison: It Is What It Is @ Monkey Barrel Comedy
- Liz Kingsman: One-Woman Show @ Traverse Theatre
- Sam Campbell: Comedy Show @ Monkey Barrel Comedy
- Seann Walsh: Is Dead. Happy Now? @ The Stand Comedy Club
- The Delightful Sausage: Nowt but Sea - Amy Gledhill and Chris Cantrill with Paul Dunphy @ Monkey Barrel 4
This year's nominees for Best Newcomer are:
- Amy Gledhill: The Girl Before The Girl You Marry @ Monkey Barrel Comedy - Carnivore Emily Wilson: Fixed @ Pleasance Courtyard - Beneath
- Emmanuel Sonubi: Emancipated @ Underbelly, Bristol Square
- Josh Jones: Waste of Space @ Pleasance Courtyard - Bunker Three
- Lara Ricote: GRL/LATNX/DEF @ Monkey Barrel Comedy - The Hive
- Leo Reich: Literally Who Cares?! @ Pleasance Courtyard - Baby Grand
- Vittorio Angelone: Translations @ Monkey Barrel Comedy - Carnivore
This year's panelists, who judged nearly 600 eligible shows are:
- Adnan Ahmed, Chair: Producer, Sky Studios Comedy
- Cherie Cunningham: Channel Director, Dave
- Ashley Davies: Freelance Arts Journalist, Metro Scotland and Times Scotland's Alba
- Joe Hullait: Commissioning Executive, Channel 4 Comedy
- Isobel Lewis: Comedy Critic and Culture Journalist, Independent
- Dominic Maxwell: Comedy Critic, The Times
- Pete Strauss: Executive Producer, BBC Studios Audio
- Paul Abbey: Public Competition Winner
- Jo Kinsella: Public Competition Winner
- Monique May Munroe: Public Competition Winner
The awards are sponsored by comedy channel Dave, with the aim of further celebrating and supporting comics, from those breaking into the industry to much-loved names.
The prize money for Best Comedy Show is £10,000, with £5,000 each for the Best Newcomer and the Panel Prize winner.
There will be a Nominees' photo-call and Gala recording on the morning of Thursday 25th August. The 40th Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards ceremony will take place on Saturday 27th August.
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For Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards please contact Multitude Media:
- Anya Noakes, Senior Publicist: anya.noakes@multitudemedia.co.uk / 07973 363341
- Charlotte Prentice, Publicity Manager: charlotte.prentice@multitudemedia.co.uk / 07969 959037
- Will Wood, Managing Director: will.wood@multitudemedia.co.uk / 07817 014515
For UKTV and Dave please contact:
Ben Duncan, Consumer Publicity Manager
NOTES TO EDITORS About the Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards:
The inaugural Comedy Award winners were The Cambridge Footlights in 1981, whose line- up included Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and Emma Thompson. Other winners whose careers have soared since carrying off the awards range from the late Sean Hughes, still the youngest ever winner at age 24, to Rose Matafeo, Hannah Gadsby, Bridget Christie, Russell Kane, Richard Ayoade, Al Murray, The League of Gentlemen, Dylan Moran, Jenny Eclair, Harry Hill, Lee Evans, Steve Coogan and Frank Skinner.
Our 2019 winners, Jordan Brookes and Catherine Cohen have had a busy couple of years. Brookes has taken his acclaimed Edinburgh show around the UK and beyond, hosted his own BBC Radio 4 series Jordan Brookes on..., has made a pilot for Channel 4 and recently launched a brand new podcast with Dave, Look At What You've Done. Meanwhile American Catherine Cohen co-hosts the popular podcast Seek Treatment whilst her debut one-hour comedy special The Twist? She's Gorgeous is now streaming on Netflix.
Past nominees include James Acaster, Nish Kumar, Sara Pascoe, Romesh Ranganathan, Darren Harriott, Ivo Graham, Lucy Beaumont, London Hughes, Mae Martin, Sophie Willan, Seann Walsh, Greg Davies, Sarah Millican, John Bishop, Russell Howard, Chris Addison, Reginald D Hunter, Adam Hills, Jimmy Carr, Omid Djalili, Noel Fielding, Sean Lock, Lee Mack, Peter Kay, Graham Norton, Bill Bailey and Eddie Izzard.
Dave has a well-established passion for supporting fresh comedy, and with a growing slate of UKTV Originals, the channel prides itself on supporting new talent and bringing in young audiences. Original comedy programming attracting an over 25% or more 16-34 audience profile include Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable, BAFTA-winning Big Zuu's Big Eats _and Josh Widdicombe and James Acaster's _Hypothetical.
A full history of the winners and nominees, eligibility rules and all other details about the Awards can be found at: www.comedyawards.co.uk
Dave programme stats are premiere runs, 7-day consolidated. Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable S1, Big Zuu's Big Eats S1/S2, Hypothetical S2/S3
About Dave:
Dave is the award-winning entertainment channel home to a veritable feast of UKTV Original comedy hits from some of the biggest stars in the UK. Comedy entertainment shows like BAFTA-winning Big Zuu's Big Eats, Outsiders, Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable, Hypothetical, Comedians Giving Lectures, Question Team, Late Night Mash, Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled, The Island and British As Folk sit alongside scripted comedies such as Meet The Richardsons and Red Dwarf.
But Dave isn't just restricted to television screens. There's exclusive online content, with YouTube's Big Zuu's Wrap Clash and Who Cares? With Amelia Dimoldenberg, as well as Facebook series The Comedy Guide To Life, Bad Advice with Olga Koch and BackChat. Dave's partnership with CALM has led to exclusive commissions and innovative online and marketing campaigns such as #BeTheMateYoudWant. Dave is the proud sponsor of Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards and also crowns its yearly Joke Of The Edinburgh Fringe every August.
dave.uktv.co.uk / @davechannel
About Awards Director and Producer Nica Burns:
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 recently announced that her new theatre on Charing Cross Road, @shoplace, will open in the autumn. 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.