From Liz Kingsman’s ‘messy woman’ send-up to Seann Walsh’s memories of his off-screen Strictly kiss, the nine-strong shortlist is a triumph for diversity though not without glaring omissionsThe nominations have been announced for the first Edinburgh Co…
Continue ReadingFamiliar faces Jerry Seinfeld, Patton Oswalt and Jim Gaffigan feature on this year’s shortlist – an award dominated by Netflix specials with nary an indie voice in sightWhat do we expect of a shortlist for best comedy album at the Grammys? I’ve not, in…
Continue ReadingThe titan of Irish comics is on a roll after his sitcom and chatshow success, but he is still excited and overwhelmed by the art of standup‘The older you get,” asks Tommy Tiernan, “do you get lazy, and complacent? Or do you get more joyfully reckless? …
Continue ReadingFrom skewering Sarah Palin to handing us Liz Lemon on 30 Rock, here are 10 of the SNL legend’s most hilarious moments The 50 best comediansA nice girl with an anarchic bent and a tongue as sharp as a boning knife, Tina Fey has dominated sketch comedy (…
Continue ReadingAfter years working in bars and call centres, Brookes’ absurdist show netted him the Edinburgh comedy award. So why does he want to want to blow the whole thing up? It’s an hour after Jordan Brookes’s life changed, and we’re sitting in a cafe yards fro…
Continue ReadingBrookes has won the biggest prize in live comedy, with Catherine Cohen named best newcomer and Jessica Brough recognised for her Fringe of Colour projectThe Edinburgh Comedy award has found itself another deserving winner in Jordan Brookes, who has bag…
Continue ReadingLondon Hughes and Jessica Fostekew are among the comics on the shortlist of nine nominees, while Catherine Cohen is up for best newcomer The shortlist for the biggest prize in live comedy, the Edinburgh Comedy award, has been announced – and it’s one o…
Continue ReadingLondon Hughes and Jessica Fostekew are among the comics on the shortlist of nine nominees, while Catherine Cohen is up for best newcomer The shortlist for the biggest prize in live comedy, the Edinburgh Comedy award, has been announced – and it’s one o…
Continue ReadingFelicity Ward, Alex Edelman, Glenn Moore, Larry Dean and Kieran Hodgson also among standups in the running for £10,000 main prize – but the list has some striking omissions
The shortlist has been announced for the 2018 Edinburgh Comedy award, and it’s the most traditional lineup the prize has seen for years. In what will be seen as a shortlist for standup purists, the Jewish American act Alex Edelman features with his show about gatecrashing a Nazi meeting, the terrific New Zealander Rose Matafeo gets her first (and overdue) nomination and, with the only show that’s not straight standup, Yorkshireman Kieran Hodgson is nominated for ’75, a storytelling show about the pre-history of Brexit.
Also included – and competing for a prize won last year by Hannah Gadsby’s Netflix phenomenon Nanette – are Ahir Shah (following up on his 2017 nod) with a set about visiting his deported Indian grandmother in the wake of the Windrush scandal, and the veteran Aussie comic Felicity Ward. Gags-man Glenn Moore makes a maiden appearance on the shortlist, and local hero Larry Dean, from Glasgow, is nominated for his breakup show Bampot after a Best Newcomer mention back in 2015.
Continue ReadingShows about relationship breakdown and homophobia pick up a prize – or two – for John Robins and Hannah Gadsby
The longest ever shortlist. The first ever joint winners. And clearly, the most indecisive judging panel ever.
It was indeed, as the publicity would have it, an “unprecedented” year for the Edinburgh comedy awards. But, if there’s a worry that the currency of these awards is being devalued, there can be no real complaints about this year’s champs: probably the two most audacious stand-up shows on the fringe, and certainly among the funniest.
Related: Are they having a laugh? Edinburgh comedy judges give prize twice
Continue Reading