Established in 1981, the Edinburgh Comedy Awards are the most prestigious awards within UK comedy. Presented to the very best performers and shows at the world-renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the awards have been a launchpad for the careers of some of the most successful comedians of the past four decades. Since 2019, Creative Awards London have been the proud designer and producer of this esteemed trophy. 2023 sees the design updated and invigorated and draws from the famous Edinburgh Comedy Awards.

Also known as the Oscars of Comedy, the awards have gone under many guises and different names over the years. For over 20 years they were most famously known as The Perrier Award, but as the sponsors came to change, from lastminute.com to Foster’s lager, Absolute Radio to Intelligent Finance, so did the name of the awards. Now in their latest incarnation, the awards are still as desirable and prized as they have always been.

The hallowed Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the biggest celebration of theatre, art, poetry and live performance in the world. Transforming Scotland's picturesque capital city, over 500 spaces become home to resident performers that attract visitors from across the globe. 

Its story dates back to 1947, when eight theatre groups turned up uninvited to perform at the Edinburgh International Festival. Year on year more and more performers followed their example and in 1958 the Festival Fringe Society was created in response to the success of this growing trend. Its constitution was written in line with the ethos that brought these theatre companies to Edinburgh back in 1947; that: the Society was to take no part in vetting the festival’s programme.

Over two million tickets were estimated to be sold this year, making it the most successful arts festival in the world, and the third most popular event of any kind after the Olympics and the World Cup.

Over 40 years of development by theatre impresario Nica Burns have seen the festival and the Edinburgh Comedy Awards snowball into the biggest and best celebration of comedy and performing arts in the land. The true testimony status of the awards is, of course, the quality of the acts that have won them. The inaugural winners were Cambridge Footlights in 1981 whose line up included Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and Emma Thompson, Sean Hughes (still the youngest ever winner at age 24), Frank Skinner, Steve Coogan, Dylan Moran, The League of Gentlemen, and Al Murray. Among the nominees are some equally stellar acts including The Mighty Boosh, Jimmy Carr, Omid Djalili, Peter Kay, Eddie Izzard, and Ross Noble.

The nominees are as follows:

Up for Sky Best Comedy Show show are

Ahir Shah: Ends @ Monkey Barrel Comedy - Monkey Barrel 3

Ania Magliano: I Can't Believe You've Done This @ Pleasance Courtyard - Beyond

Emmanuel Sonubi: Curriculum Vitae @ Underbelly - Dairy Room

Ian Smith: Crushing @ Monkey Barrel Comedy - Monkey Barrel 1

Janine Harouni: Man'oushe @ Pleasance Courtyard - Beneath

Julia Masli: ha ha ha ha ha ha ha @ Monkey Barrel Comedy - Monkey Barrel 4

Kieran Hodgson: Big In Scotland @ Pleasance Courtyard - Beyond

Phil Ellis’s Excellent Comedy Show @ Monkey Barrel Comedy - Hive 2

This year’s nominees for DLT Entertainment Best Newcomer are:

Bill O'Neill: The Amazing Banana Brother @ Pleasance Courtyard - Beside

Dan Tiernan: Going Under @ Monkey Barrel Comedy - Monkey Barrel 2

Lindsey Santoro: Pink Tinge @ Pleasance Courtyard - The Attic

Louise Young: Feral @ Pleasance Courtyard - Bunker One

Martin Urbano: Apology Comeback Tour @ Pleasance Courtyard - Bunker Three

Paddy Young: Hungry, Horny, Scared @ Pleasance Courtyard - Above

Urooj Ashfaq: Oh No! @ Assembly George Square - The Crate

Creative Awards London are delighted to have produced the latest iteration of the trophy. Cut from clear Perspex, The Edinburgh Comedy Awards logo is reproduced in coloured and printed Perspex, then applied to the front face, which is laser engraved with the winner and sponsor’s details then infilled with black.