Richard Gadd wins Edinburgh Comedy Award
- Richard Gadd has won the Edinburgh Comedy Award 2016
- Scott Gibson has been named Best Newcomer 2016
- 'Iraq Out & Loud, the non-stop show in which comedians read out the Chilcot Report, won the panel prize
The results of the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2016 have been announced.
Previously known as the Perrier Awards, the awards have been held annually since 1981 and are considered one of the highest accolades a comedian can attain. Prizes were handed out at a lunchtime ceremony in the city today, hosted by last year's winners, Sam Simmons and Sofie Hagen.
Best Show
Richard Gadd has won the main prize for his show Monkey See Monkey Do. The comedian, who called himself a "complicated individual", welled up with emotion as he gave his acceptance speech.
His "unsettling" show, which involves multimedia, is based around an event four years ago that brought about a "dark chapter of his life." He said as part of his awards acceptance speech: "The darkness I was in, I cannot tell you how bad it got... I feel like this in some way going to get it back."
Monkey See Monkey Do, which involves Gadd performing on a running machine and focuses on topics such as mental health, masculinity and sexuality, was staged in a small Free Fringe venue and large queues built up to see it. The show received a significant number of four and five star reviews, many of which used labels like "remarkable", "hilarious" and "unflinchingly frank." Read reviews
Gadd has discussed the incident that the show is based around in a recent Guardian interview, however as the theme of the live show only becomes apparent at the end of the performance, in - as one reviewer described it - "a shocking, harrowing volte face that leaves stunned silence", those planning to watch Monkey See Monkey Do at a later date (it is expected that Gadd will perform it in other cities) are advised to avoid the details.
The other nominees were Al Porter, James Acaster, Kieran Hodgson, Nish Kumar, Randy Writes A Novel, Tom Ballard and Zoe Coombs Marr. Speaking from the stage, Gadd addressed Acaster - who has been nominated five times in a row but failed to win once - to tell him, "you don't need awards to prove you're the best in the country."
Best Newcomer
Glaswegian comedian Scott Gibson has been named Best Newcomer. His show Life After Death is described as "a story of fear, love, life" and involves him telling the story about the time he had a brain haemorrhage. Taking to the stage on being announced the winner he admitted "I've no idea what to say", but he did thank his venue, Gilded Balloon, saying "those guys have been incredible."
The other newcomer nominees were Bilal Zafar, Brennan Reece, Jayde Adams, Michelle Wolf, Nath Valvo.
Both Richard Gadd and Scott Gibson are from Scotland. Gibson commented: "Sometimes in Scotland we get ourselves caught up in the madness of the Fringe and like to tell ourselves we're not part of it, strangely. Hopefully this will show we can come up here and tell our stories and be part of it."
Panel Prize
Iraq Out & Loud, an event that spanned the whole festival and involved the Chilcot Report about the Iraq war being read out in full, was chosen as the winner of the Panel Prize. Bob Slayer, who organised the event and erected the shed that acted as the show's base, took to the stage to accept the prize alongside Executive Producer Omid Djalili.
Iraq Out & Loud was originally conceived by comedian Boothby Graffoe just a couple of weeks before the Fringe started. In total, the show ran for 284 hours and 45 minutes non-stop, with more than one thousand readers passing through the wooden shed on South College Street to give voice to the 2.6 million word report. It is thought to be the longest ever show at the Edinburgh Fringe. The project has an official website with further information.
Well known figures including Rory Bremner, Alexi Sayle, Mark Thomas, Arthur Smith, Ian Rankin and Stand venue-owning SNP MP Tommy Sheppard are amongst the many who took a turn reading from the report. There were also many members of the public, some of whom read out chapters overnight.
Bob Slayer said in a statement: "Iraq Out & Loud could only happen because of the over a thousand people who took part, turned up, and made it happen. This prize is a recognition of that incredible group effort, and we hope the Fringe has been just the beginning of the project."
Omid Djalili, commenting on the prize, added: "It's an award for the comedy industry... because we won't take bullshit."
The prize money - sponsored by LastMinute.com - is £10,000 for Best Show, with £5,000 each for the Best Newcomer and the Panel Prize winners.
Nica Burns, director of the awards, says: ""A record-breaking year for Scotland with a double Scottish win. Richard Gadd's highly original, extraordinary show combines hilarity and heart and Scott Gibson is a brilliant stand-up who can make a near-death experience funny."
The judging panel consisted of seven comedy professionals, and three comedy punters representing the public. Alice Jones (from the i newspaper) acted as Chair. She was joined by Sam Michell (BBC), Laura Riseam (Channel 4), Claire Smith (The Scotsman), Dominic Maxwell (The Times), Saskia Schuster (ITV), Susan Provan (Melbourne Festival) and public panel competition winners Niki Di Palma, Jim Johnson, and Sam Haslam.