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BBC News
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Edinburgh Fringe's funniest joke award scrapped for 2025
Edinburgh Fringe's annual funniest joke award has been scrapped for this year's comedy festival, organisers have confirmed (no joke).The award, launched in 2008 - providing many humorous headlines - is usually presented by the TV channel U&Dave [formerly Dave], which is owned by its bosses said in a statement it was on pause "as our commissioning focus evolves", so it could "reflect on how we continue to support comedy in the best way possible."It added: "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." A witty pun about a sailing trip, listed below, was named as the funniest joke at last year's prize has been criticised in some quarters for its tendency to always favour one-liners, while others have noted its ability to shine a light on newer noted it had been "originally created to celebrate and spotlight grassroots comedy talent."The esteemed but seperate Edinburgh comedy award recognises the best performance and routine overall each the funniest joke gong has been a mainstay of the festival for the best part of two decades, apart from during the Covid-19 jokes are usually chosen by a panel of comedians and critics, then sent anonymously to 2,000 members of the public to collectively choose their is a selection of winners from recent years that you can pass off as your own in the pub later on: Mark Simmons last year: "I was going to sail around the globe in the world's smallest ship but I bottled it."Lorna Rose Treen in 2023: "I started dating a zookeeper, but it turned out he was a cheetah."Masai Graham in 2022: "I tried to steal spaghetti from the shop, but the female guard saw me and I couldn't get pasta."Olaf Falafel in 2019: "I keep randomly shouting out "Broccoli" and "Cauliflower" - I think I might have Florets."Adam Rowe in 2018: "Working at the job centre has to be a tense job - knowing that if you get fired, you still have to come in the next day."Ken Cheng in 2017: "I'm not a fan of the new pound coin, but then again, I hate all change."Masai Graham in 2016: "My dad has suggested that I register for a donor card. He's a man after my own heart."Darren Walsh in 2015: "I just deleted all the German names off my phone. It's Hans free."Tim Vine in 2014: "I've decided to sell my Hoover - well, it was just collecting dust." Following the announcement that the award was to be "rested", production company Need to Know Comedy announced that it was reviving its (Some Guy Called) Dave award, calling for festival acts to email across one-liners from their show in exchange for a potential cash Margoyles, Jenny Eclair and Bill Bailey are among the performers appearing in more than 3,000 shows at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which begins on Friday 1 August.
Scottish Sun
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Edinburgh Fringe has popular feature SCRAPPED from festival after 18 years
Previous winners said the closure of the awards was 'sad' NO JOKE Edinburgh Fringe has popular feature SCRAPPED from festival after 18 years THE 'Funniest joke of the Fringe' award has been scrapped from this year's Edinburgh Festival - after 18 years of pun-heavy gags. U&Dave's annual award has been scrapped - with the TV station behind the gong saying it is "resting". Advertisement 3 Comedian Lorna Rose Treen became the first woman to pick up the award since 2008 Credit: PA 3 Tim Vine also previously won the award Credit: PA:Press Association 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". Previous winners have included Tim Vine, Olaf Falafal and Zoe Lyons. And Lorna Rose Treen became the first woman to pick up the award since 2008. Last year's winner was comedian Mark Simmons. Advertisement He scooped the award with the joke: "I was going to sail around the globe in the world's smallest ship but I bottled it." 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. While we're resting the award this year, we'll always look for ways to bring laughter to audiences in exciting ways UKTV "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." Advertisement 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. Edinburgh Fringe tourist wins year worth of free beer "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. Advertisement The U&Dave award is separate to the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, which have run since 1981.
Time Out
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Dave's Joke of the Fringe has officially been cancelled
Although not nearly as prestigious as the two 'main' comedy awards at the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe – that's best show and best newcomer – Dave's Joke of the Fringe is the one that's tended to grab the most column inches over the years: it's voted for by the public, who actually get to see the jokes written down before voting on them, and there's much more reportage on it because it's easier to report on a one-line joke than an hourlong light concept comedy show. The award has proven somewhat controversial over the years: the only jokes that really work in the format are often quite old fashioned puns and one liners, and it's rare that the winner has much bearing on the prevailing comedy zeitgeist. And the fact the winners can be quite naff is often used as a stick to beat the festival as a whole: Lorna Rose Treen's 2023 show Skin Pigeon (pictured) was an unusually hip winner but the gag that took the prize wasn't very representative, didn't really translate to being written down and caused a mini tabloid scandal. Still, it's good exposure for both comedians and festival and if it's imperfect it is basically a good laugh. So it's a shame that Joke of the Fringe is not happening this year. According to UKTV, which owns comedy Freeview channel Dave (technically now U&Dave), the award is officially just 'resting' this year and could come back, though in practise it seems unclear why they'd randomly can it this year and not next. Presumably the reason is purely financial: for a few years Dave sponsored the main awards too, but scaled back to the high profile Joke of the Fringe only. Production company Need to Know Comedy has announced it's reviving its (Some Guy Called) Dave Award, which was initially a pandemic-era substitute for Joke of the Fringe: comics are invited to self-submit up to five gags from their show via email for consideration for the £250 prize. If you want to enter, drop needtoknowcomedy@ a message before August 11.
Scotsman
a day ago
- 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.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Do we need Bookish, yet another cosy crime?
A silhouette on flocked wallpaper. A cute transistor radio playing light jazz. A woman is dozing, slipping down the settee – no, wait – she's being dragged on to the floor, the seams of her nylons disappearing into the shadows. Sedation, abduction and murder, quite possibly, have never looked or sounded more tasteful. In our world of constant, instantly accessible horror, TV schedulers are turning more than ever to – excuse me while I gag – cosy crime . I get it. TV viewers are human. We crave shocks that activate our fight-or-flight instincts, our primitive selves. It's simply that gentler versions are nicer when the news cycle is all disaster, fascism and genocide. On UKTV's cosy crime network (and available to subscribers of Now TV ), Bookish presents itself more poshly than Midsomer Murders, Death in Paradise and the recent BBC Sunday night hit Death Valley. It is set in a strangely glossy post war London, where Mark Gatiss plays the irritatingly named Gabriel Book, who runs an antiquarian bookshop. Polly Walker plays his wife, Trottie, a shoulder-padded, vintage-clad dream who runs the wallpaper shop next door. Outside work, they help police solve crimes, although it's not clear why. We also slowly discover that their marriage is shrouded in mystery for other reasons. The first episode is slow. We're guided through it s world by newcomer Jack (Connor Finch) , a flat-cap-wearing mini Eddie Redmayne with eyes like sapphire marbles. He gets a job at the shop, even though he struggles to locate it (not because he's illiterate: he finds the apostrophe in the store's name, Book's Books, understandably challenging). He's then brought along to a crime scene that reveals itself as a previously undiscovered plague pit. As a police officer railed at the Books' arrival at the scene, questioning who Jack was, while another officer encouraged the amateurs' deductions, my TV recall siren went off. A very similar setup occurs in the first episode of the BBC 's Sherlock, co-written by Gatiss . Why change a winning formula? We're then whisked along to a suicide that might be a murder. Mentions of the war's effects on the city add an intriguing texture to the plot. But what makes cosy crime really zing is the characters who lead it. In the first few episodes, Gabriel Book's camp pedantry clearly aims towards David Suchet's reading of Poirot in the classic ITV series that ran for 24 years. His bon mots – 'Loose lips drop slips' – feel heavy-handed, however. Trottie's sexy matriarch is a much more intriguing figure, and even better is part-time bookseller Nora (Buket Kömür) . All quickfire wit, she makes the screen shimmer every time she appears. Bookish presents itself more poshly than Midsomer Murders, Death in Paradise and the Sunday night hit Death Valley Jump forward to the present day, and more than 5,000 miles west , to the Yosemite National Park , where – surprise! – there's another mysterious death to investigate. Untamed is Netflix's latest brooding, US-set drama, although Australian and New Zealand actors lead it. Eric Bana, 22 years on from playing the Hulk, is 56 and in his moody, silver- fox era. He plays surly national parks special agent Kyle Turner, a man at his happiest when crossing the wilderness on a horse. Sam Neill, clearly in his kindly grandad era, plays Paul Souter, his boss. Written by Mark L Smith ( screenwriter of The Revenant and Twisters ) and Elle Smith, this is the kind of show made for huge, wall-mounted screens. Craggy landscapes loom and ache, while episode one's opening climbing scene is not for the acrophobic. Turner suddenly has a young woman's death on his hands and he's given a rookie agent, Naya Vasquez (played by the sparky Lily Santiago) , to work with. Yes, there are clich es here, but Santiago brings a welcome levity to the role. There are also some bold visual tricks. A twist late in the opener is nicely done, as are jump cuts between Turner's explorations and the victim's last moments. Is he imagining them or is the park revealing its own memories? If the series continues to plough these deeper, weirder furrows, it may work. Mix Tape is a summer romance set in Sheffield and Sydney. It follows fortysomething music journalist Daniel O'Toole (Jim Sturgess) , who's reminded of the first love of his life, Alison Connor (Teresa Palmer) , after his best friend finds out about her success as a novelist. Here's a generation X-er in mid life, still writing about arts and culture, trying to defend their life choices. Ouch. Scenes slip and slide easily between the present and the past as we learn about each character. Alison's complex backstory unfolds gradually. At one point in Australia, she chats worriedly to her literary agent on a park bench, watching kids play football. A whistle blows, and she's a teen back in school watching a young Daniel (a pitch-perfect Rory Walton-Smith) swearing as he misses a goal. Florence Hunt, playing the young Alison, has the crackle and glow of a star in the making. In the post-Normal People era of more explicit romantic dramas, Mix Tape feels old-fashioned, sweet and slightly cloying – like a striped bag of lemon sherbets. Nevertheless, I loved the close ups of ballpoints scrawling on inlay cards and bedroom floors strewn with C90s (under-35s, ask your parents). Despite clunky dialogue, improbable plot points (surely we all befriended our teenage exes on Facebook nearly 20 years ago?) and too many shots of people gazing into the distance, there are some nice subtle details. The links between his situation and his parents' relationship emerge slowly. And Alison's husband marks himself out as definitely not her indie boy by singing Mental As Anything's 1985 cringe-fest Live It Up. Jude Rogers's watch list Human (BBC Two) This ambitious new BBC/PBS co-production, hosted by the engaging British palaeoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi (below) , takes us 'behind the curtain of evolution', stuffing us full with cutting-edge science. Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters (ITVX) It sounds like a fevered Alan Partridge programme pitch, with a title that implies the toothy fish should be more afraid of the stars. But this bizarre show comes alive thanks to endearing contestants such as Lucy Punch (Amandaland) and Lenny Henry . The Great British Sewing Bee (BBC One) Sara Pascoe returns from maternity leave (another task, she says, that involves 'labour, love and careful stitching') to host the 11th series of TV's warmest show, cosying up to sustainable fashion guru Patrick Grant and designer Esme Young. Photographs by Nicolas Velter; Netflix
