Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Awards: and the winners are | reviews, news & interviews
Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Awards: and the winners are...
Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Awards: and the winners are...
Monday, 30 August 2010
In a terrific year for comedy at the Fringe, the winners of the 2010 Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perriers) are Russell Kane, Roisin Conaty and Bo Burnham. The prizes - cheques for £10,000, £5,000 and £5,000 - were presented to the three comedians on Saturday in the Spiegel Tent in George Square in a celebration of 30 years of these awards.
The 10-strong panel (critics, producers and members of the public who won competitions based on their extensive knowledge of live comedy) debated long and hard to whittle down 400-plus eligible shows, and it was good to see so many women nominated - not only Newcomer winner Roisin Conaty but also whimsy merchant Josie Long and Sarah Millican for the main award. It was pleasing, too, to see the judges go beyond the big venues to place Imran Yusuf on the newcomer list.
Old Fringe hand Russell Kane made it third time lucky, winning on his third successive nomination for the main award. Bo Burnham, the American 20-year-old (just) sensation, missed the main award but was compensated by the Panel's prestigious prize (picture left, receiving his award on Saturday).
The Comedy God award, voted by the public as their favourite from a list of every act nominated in 30 years of the awards, went to Japanese sketch group Frank Chickens. The award has been mired in controversy after being attacked by comics including Stewart Lee and Robin Ince, who believe the award is a commercially inspired nonsense and suggested the public vote for the most obscure act. Kazuko Hohki, lead member of Frank Chickens, who were nominated in 1985, said she was amused by all the attention, but that Frank Chickens were not comedians - rather a band of performance artists.
- Greg Davies: Firing Cheeseballs at a Dog
- Bo Burnham: Words, Words, Words
- Josie Long: Be Honourable!
- Sarah Millican: Chatterbox
Best Newcomer: Roisin Conaty Hero, Warrior, Fireman, Liar
- An Audience with Imran Yusuf
- Asher Treleaven: Secret Door
- Gareth Richards: Stand Up Between Songs
- Late Night Gimp Fight!
- The Boy With Tape on His Face
Panel Prize 2010: Bo Burnham Words, Words, Words
more Comedy
Jonathan Pie, Duke of York's Theatre review - spoof political reporter takes no prisoners
Tom Walker in a bravura display
Spencer Jones: Making Friends, Soho Theatre review - award-winning comedian mines his post-lockdown escape to the country
If big chickens scare you, this is your thing!
Six Chick Flicks, Leicester Square Theatre review - funny, frenetic and feminist spoof
Whip-smart parody of the genre
Pierre Novellie, Soho Theatre review - turning a heckle into a show
Thoughtful take on neurodivergence
Catherine Bohart, Soho Theatre review - girlfriends, gossip and gay parenthood
Full-throttle show from Irish comic
Miles Jupp, Cambridge Arts Theatre review - life's vicissitudes turned into laughs
Finding the funny in medical emergency
Andy Parsons, Touring review - reasons to be cheerful...
...Even if the country's falling apart
Bill Bailey: Thoughtifier, Brighton Centre review - offbeat adventures with a whirling, erudite mind
Bailey's fusion of studied musicality and off-the-wall wordplay remains one-of-a-kind
Paul Foot, Soho Theatre review - how to discover the meaning of life
Personal show from the absurdist comic
Jessica Fostekew, Soho Theatre review - age is just a number
Landmark birthday prompts some musings
Fascinating Aida, London Palladium review - celebrating 40 glorious years of filth and defiance
Age has not withered one jot the FAs' fury at the absurdities of modern life
Frank Skinner: 30 Years of Dirt, Gielgud Theatre review - a mature master of class-A smut
Has Skinner's act got less dirty over the years, or audiences more so?
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