Edinburgh Comedy Awards: 2011 Nominees
The nominees for the Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Award (previously known as the Perrier Award) have been announced. The shortlist is as follows (click on the names for the full listings, including links to all the reviews these shows have received so far):
Best Comedy Show
Adam Riches: Bring Me the Head of Adam Riches
Andrew Maxwell: The Lights Are On
Josie Long: The Future Is Another Place
Best Newcomer
Cariad Lloyd: Lady Cariad's Characters
The Chris and Paul Show (Paul Valenti and Chris O'Neill)
Hannibal Buress - My Name is Hannibal: The Hannibal Montanabal Experience
Humphrey Ker is Dymock Watson: Nazi Smasher!
Josh Widdicombe: If This Show Saves One Life
Thom Tuck Goes Straight to DVD
Totally Tom (Tom Palmer and Tom Stourton)
Established in 1981 by producer Nica Burns as the Perrier Awards but since re-named, The Edinburgh Comedy Awards are the prestigious accolades that every festival act is looking to win. Last year the awards went to Russell Kane and Roisin Conaty.
This year the nominations took much longer than usual to formulate, with a delay of over three hours. On revealing the nominations, Nica Burns said: "This record-breaking year of 505 eligible shows demonstrates the incredible strength of the UK comedy scene, which is bursting with talent both familiar and new and continues to grow at an astonishing rate. Not only that: in the run-up to this year's Fringe, everyone was predicting that 2011 would be an exceptional year for newcomers - they were right. With 100 extra newcomer shows to consider, it came as no surprise that the panel was spoilt for choice."
"This inspired the longest debate in the history of the Newcomer Award, and a second vote. Result: an unprecedented shortlist of eight, all of whom the panel feels should be encouraged, as they clearly have a brilliant future in comedy. We have a brilliant shortlist for Best Comedy Show; a set of nominees to please differing funny bones - character, political and life-affirming comedy. And most of all - very, very funny. Comedy in the UK is in fantastic shape. This has been a great Edinburgh Festival for comedy."
It should be noted that not every act at the Fringe is judged - alongside various stipulations, the rules state that any comedian who is considered to have 'star status' is not eligible to be shortlisted (this is defined as any act who has starred in a television comedy or light entertainment series on terrestrial television, or regularly fills a 500-plus seat venue).
This year's judging panel comprises of Tania Harrison (Festival Republic), Lindsay Hughes (Baby Cow Productions); Julia McKenzie (BBC Radio Comedy); Mark Monahan (Daily Telegraph); Simon Nicholls (NBC Universal); Brian Reade (Daily Mirror); Ben Williams (Time Out); and members of the public Steve Morton, Cara Sandys and Sarah Slack, who won a competition to join the panel for this year.
The winners of the 2011 awards will be announced in a ceremony at lunchtime this Saturday 27th August 2011. The main winner will receive £10,000, and the best newcomer will get £5,000.
To find out more about the Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Awards visit www.comedyawards.co.uk