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Irish Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Have you heard the one about the scrapped Edinburgh joke award?
The award for 'best joke' at the Edinburgh fringe is dead and permission to laugh at its funeral is granted. No arrests will be made, no fines issued. The annual list of allegedly the funniest gags to be heard across hundreds of shows staged at the month-long festival has been sent to the comedy scrapheap, with the organiser/culprit, UKTV-owned channel U&Dave, releasing a straight-man statement citing an 'opportunity to reflect' on how it supports grassroots comedy talent. To be fair, U&Dave – known as Dave before UKTV slapped a 'U&' on its channels to make them sound like a family of deodorants – does do its bit to spotlight comedy talent, which used to be something bigger broadcasters took more of an interest in before their nerves failed. What UKTV didn't say was that its pun-heavy rundown of handpicked one-liners had the risible effect of reducing hours of intelligent, precision-timed, carefully honed comedy sets into a creaking, groaning slab of rage bait. READ MORE Take, for example, last year's winning effort by English comedian Mark Simmons: 'I was going to sail around the globe in the world's smallest ship but I bottled it.' Most wordplay is reverse-engineered, but it's not great when the steel beams of a joke are so fully exposed, is it? Still, the British public voted this the best joke of the fringe from a selection offered to them by a panel of critics and comedians doubling as U&Dave collaborators. Voters might have been less wrong if they had instead plumped for Arthur Smith's third-placed absurdity, 'I sailed through my driving test. That's why I failed it.' But I'm falling into the trap now. I'm engaging. It never mattered what came out top. As long as it struggled to bear the weight of the 'funniest joke' accolade, it did its job as cheap filler content that reliably provoked stiff breakfast-host laughter or, more usually, a sceptical sigh. As it goes, I have a high appreciation of the shameless pun, though almost-puns are tough to swallow. This week I learned that former Undertones frontman Feargal Sharkey has a policy on these. When the singer turned environmental campaigner was spotted struggling with his earpiece on BBC Breakfast, a viewer, referencing lyrics to solo hit A Good Heart, commented that 'a good earpiece [these days] is hard to find'. Sharkey cheerily outlined his normal penance for 'the bad-pun lobby', proposing a £20 donation to his chosen charity. [ From the archive: 37 mostly appalling jokes to make you groan – and maybe even grin Opens in new window ] This was all in good spirit, and didn't muddy Sharkey's advocacy on UK water reform. The problem with the Joke of the Fringe wheeze, by contrast, is that it wound up misrepresenting the essence of the festival. It wasn't U&Dave's fault, but the list's reproducible nature meant it attracted more attention than the genuinely prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Award and, in the process, reaffirmed the views of people predisposed to believe that stand-up comedy is a bit rubbish, a touch childish; the product of a Vitamin D-deprived cohort yet to get a real job. Never mind that at festivals such as the fringe, you will discover some of the cleverest, most magnetic people delivering 50-minute masterclasses in stitch-inducing storytelling, their styles ranging from the surreal to the polemical, their words as judiciously selected as poets'. Other gag lists will now fill the void. But this media fodder, rather than promoting the craft of joke writing, risks contributing to the minimisation of stand-up and reinforcing the dismissal of comedy as something other than art. It all becomes part of the same attitude that saw comedians here in the Republic barred from applying for the Government's Basic Income for the Arts pilot scheme. They're not artists, you see. Well, the State says so. Humour is subjective, as proved last week by reactions to the Coldplay kiss-cam couple. Some people thought the pile-on a clear nadir for surveillance society and media tabloidisation, with unfunny pitchfork-culture vibes thrown in. Others found it hilarious, for some reason. I didn't laugh, obviously, but reading a recent edition of satirical magazine Private Eye, I was struck by the acuteness of a cartoon capturing Westminster's hypocrisies and moral failure on Israel and Gaza. This was in light of the UK government's move to proscribe the organisation Palestine Action . 'Unacceptable' Palestine action, it read, was to spray military planes with paint, while 'acceptable' Palestine action was to shoot Palestinians queuing for food. A retired teacher called Jon Farley was also taken with it, so much so that he stuck a blown-up printout of it on a placard and brought it to a silent demo in Leeds. Alas, this got him arrested , as police officers didn't recognise it as political satire. Maybe they were more pun fans. Or maybe some truths, pinpointed by satirists, are just too dark to countenance. Either way, arresting people for 'carrying a joke', as editor Ian Hislop put it, suggests a U&Dave-style 'opportunity to reflect' is urgently required.
Scotsman
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Edinburgh Fringe Free Shows 2025: Here are 11 must-see free shows at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe
August is fast approaching which means it's time to scour the Edinbugh Festival Fringe programme for the best shows to see. The physical programme has over 3,350 shows across 265 venues, meaning it can be a daunting task to work out what exactly you are going to see. It can be an expensive business too, with many shows at the bigger venues now costing over £20 for the first time. Luckily, there's a Fringe experience for all budgets, including hundred of free shows that just ask you to turn up early and queue to be sure of a seat. Of course, they're not necessarily entirely free - you'll be asked to check some money into a bucket (or increasingly make a contactless payment) on the way out, with £5-£10 being a ballpark figure for a show that you have enjoyed. Some shows also give you the opportunity to 'pay what you want' in advance to secure a seat. There are two main sources of free shows - the Free Festival and PBH's Free Fringe - both of which operated in similar ways and tend to take place in pubs around the Scottish Capital. The likes of Richard Gadd, Ahir Shah and Austentatious have performed for free in recent years, so there's plenty of quality on offer - you might just see the next big thing. Here are 11 that caught our eye. You can check out the programmes at the Free Festival's website here and PBH's Free Fringe here. Remember not all shows are included in the Fringe official programme. Here are 11 that caught our eye. 1 . Mark Simmons: His Latest Jokes Last year's winner of the Funniest Joke of the Fringe Award (I was going to sail around the globe in the world's smallest ship but I bottled it), Mark Simmons is back with more of the same. There's likely to be much in the way of structure of narrative arc here, but the laughs are all but guaranteed. He's on at the Liquid Room at 1.45pm from August 2-23. | Contributed Photo Sales 2 . Sooz Kempner is Ugly Known to many as the title character in multimedia scifi spinoff 'Doctor Who's Doom's Day', Sooz Kempner is back in Edinburgh with a show about "beauty, ageing, trolling and Barbra Streisand". Catch her at the Counting House at 4.15pm from July 31-August 24. | Contribited Photo Sales 3 . Tevor Lock Trevor Lock's shows merging the line between comedy and interactive performance art have been making the Fringe a more interesting place for years - and are a must for any visit to Edinburgh in August. This year he has a scripted show in the paid-for programme, along with two of his more esoteric shows at the PBH Free Fringe. 'Trevor Lock, an audience with', promises to "turn a bunch of strangers into an extended family" at Bannermans at 2.45pm from August 2-24. Meanwhile 'Trevor Lock - Let's Start Another Cult' sets out to do exactly what it says on the tin at 5.55pm in the Voodoo Rooms from August 2024. The Scotsman called it "funny moving and clever". | Contributed Photo Sales 4 . John Robertson: Plays With The Audience Aussie comedian John Robertson is a real Fringe favourite for his improv game show 'The Dark Room'. That's back this year, but he's also trying a new show at the Free Festival, offering "improv, mayhem, gaming comedy, crowd work and songs". Sounds like an action-palced hour at the Counting House at 7pm from July 31-August 24. | Contributed Photo Sales
The Guardian
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Edinburgh funniest fringe joke award scrapped for 2025
It's beyond a joke for pun-lovers. The traditional list of the funniest gags at the Edinburgh fringe, presented by the TV channel U&Dave, has been scrapped for 2025. A statement from UKTV, which owns the channel formerly known as Dave, said: 'U&Dave's Joke of the Fringe was originally created to celebrate and spotlight grassroots comedy talent. As our commissioning focus evolves, we're taking the opportunity to reflect on how we continue to support comedy in the best way possible.' The award was launched in 2008 and has been held every year since apart from during the Covid-19 pandemic. Last year, Mark Simmons won for his nautical one-liner 'I was going to sail around the globe in the world's smallest ship but I bottled it'. The shortlist of jokes was chosen by a panel of UK comedy critics and comedians, then submitted anonymously to 2,000 members of the public who were asked to pick their favourites. Upon winning last year's prize, Simmons said: 'I needed some good news as I was just fired from my job marking exam papers, can't understand it, I always gave 110%.' Previous victors include Masai Graham (three times), Tim Vine (twice) and Olaf Falafel (a regular on the shortlist). Lorna Rose Treen, the second woman to win the award, triumphed in 2023 for the joke 'I started dating a zookeeper, but it turned out he was a cheetah.' Treen later said that when she later performed the joke in her show, an audience member 'shouted along … It was like I was a band!' The annual pun-heavy list of jokes brings gripes as well as groans, for not capturing the full spectrum of comedy on offer at the Edinburgh fringe. 'It's a welcome addition to the fun of the festival,' wrote the Guardian's comedy critic Brian Logan in 2012. 'But by suggesting that the immeasurable range of Edinburgh comedy can be captured by these few words on a printed page, it sells the wild world of comedy short.' The festival's most prestigious prize is the Edinburgh comedy award (formerly known as the Perrier), now in its 43rd year. Last summer it was won by Amy Gledhill. UKTV's statement on the cancellation of the joke of the fringe continued: 'While we're resting the award this year, we remain committed to championing great comedy across U&Dave and beyond, and we'll always look for ways to bring laughter to audiences in exciting ways.' Within hours of the announcement, the production company Need to Know Comedy announced that it was reviving its (Some Guy Called) Dave award, previously held during the pandemic. It called for fringe acts to email five one-liners from their show, with the winner receiving £250. The Edinburgh fringe officially begins on 1 August, with some comedians starting previews later this month.
Scotsman
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
'Funniest joke of the Fringe' award scrapped from this year's festival
The award has run for 18 years Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... It has come under fire for relying on pun-heavy jokes and claims that winning gags have not always been original. Now, U&Dave's Funniest Joke Of The Fringe has been scrapped after 18 years, with the TV station behind the gong saying it is 'resting'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad UKTV, which has run the contest every year since 2008, except during the pandemic, said it was 'incredibly proud' of the legacy of the award 'and the laughter it has inspired'. Last year's winner was comedian Mark Simmons, who scooped the award with the joke: 'I was going to sail around the globe in the world's smallest ship but I bottled it.' Previous winners have included Tim Vine, Olaf Falafal and Zoe Lyons, as well as Lorna Rose Treen, who became the first woman to pick up the award since 2008. UKTV added: 'As our commissioning focus evolves, we are taking the opportunity to reflect on how we continue to support comedy in the best way possible. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Comedian Olaf Falafel won the Dave Joke of the Fringe 2019 award. 'While we're resting the award this year, we remain committed to championing great comedy across U&Dave and beyond, and we'll always look for ways to bring laughter to audiences in exciting ways.' Comedian Olaf Falafel, who has won the award seven times, said the closure of the awards was 'sad', referencing one of his winning jokes. He said: 'From a personal point of view it's sad that an avenue for championing joke writing has closed, but as my dad used to say to me: ''Pints, gallons, litres,' which I think speaks volumes." In 2015, it was claimed the winning joke by Darren Walsh was 'stolen' from another comedian.
The Independent
11-03-2025
- Business
- The Independent
The one topic of conversation people avoid more than Trump
Brits would rather discuss Donald Trump than their personal debt, according to a new survey. A poll conducted for money app Plum revealed that personal debt ranked higher than the U.S. president on a list of topics people are most likely to avoid in conversations. Trailing close behind were salaries and personal savings, rounding out the top four "off-limits" subjects. The survey also delved into awkward questions to ask, finding that inquiring about someone's salary topped the list, followed by questions about debt and savings. Nearly three in 10 (28 per cent) cited a fear of sparking an argument, while 21 per cent admitted to feeling insufficiently informed on a subject. And 20 per cent confessed to avoiding these topics due to a fear of judgment. But Plum said that by avoiding topics such as money matters, people could be missing opportunities such as the best ways to save and grow their money. Bank of England data shows that more than £300 billion is sitting in non-interest-bearing accounts. The new research also indicated that one in 10 people cannot remember when they last reviewed their savings options and 11 per cent said they never have. Plum enlisted comedian Mark Simmons to create a joke book about finance to encourage people to 'break their money taboo'. 'Humour's a great way of tackling stigma and acts as a great icebreaker – and it's been great to see that in action,' he said. 'In fact, by testing this new material on one of the toughest crowds (the London general public) we were able to kick off loads of conversations with people about their finances. And I was only heckled three times.' Plum's head of money Rajan Lakhani said: 'When people do engage, they realise it's much easier to take action than they think, whether it's tax-free returns through an Isa to setting money aside for a rainy day.' Censuswide surveyed more than 2,000 people across the UK in February.
