- Best Show: Brennan Reece, Dan Tiernan, Eric Rushton, Harriet Dyer, Kate Cheka, Lara Ricote, Paul Currie, Paul Foot, Reuben Kaye
- Newcomer: Dane Buckley, Marty Gleeson, Matt Klein, Matthew Gallagher, Sam Eley, Tarang Hardikar
- The results – which also include the Best Joke, Panel Prize and tech awards – will be revealed at a ceremony on Friday night
The ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards have announced their shortlists for 2026.
Best Show
Eric Rushton: Could Well Be In
Paul Currie: REMOVE YOUR SKIN PLEASE
The Last Funny Woman (Kate Cheka)
Tom Short: I Get ChatGPT To Write My Edinburgh Show
Best Newcomer
Matthew Gallagher: Last Minute
Sam Eley is Basil Crumbwick: Soul Sewage
Tarang Hardikar: If I’m Not Wrong
Best Joke
Chris Turner: “My cousin is autistic. When you give him a Rubik’s Cube it takes him 12 seconds… to say thank you.”
Kate Butch: “I get called a nonce a lot… one of King Arthur’s least popular knights.”
Adam Flood: “I saw a sign in Gloucestershire which said ‘Cheltenham – home of the races.’ which is weird because everybody there was white.”
Omar Badawy: “Telling Muslim parents you’re bringing home an Arab Christian is like telling Prince Andrew you’re bringing home a 12 year old whisky.”
Eric Rushton: “2006 was like watching a Christopher Nolan film at the cinema… everyone wanted a Wii”
Anna Thomas: “The back of my car fell off the other day and you’ll never guess what you can’t buy in a car boot sale.”
Brennan Reece: “If ever I was to do a gender reveal, I’d gather all my family and friends, I’d get a helium balloon – I’d pop it, there’d be nothing in it and I’d say ‘We’re not keeping it!'”
Paul Hilleard: “I’m not very good with words. I only found out the other day that nuance doesn’t mean paedo in French.”
Amy Matthews: “…he was a member of flat earth forums. Then inevitably they get back together and you’ve got to have this idiot over for dinner; you’re serving him tiramisu thinking ‘I know you think the ocean’s got corners’.”
Matthew Gallagher: “Here’s a fact about the Anne Frank diary – they brought out an audiobook version of it – here’s my review – it was sh*t – she was whispering, I couldn’t hear anything that was going on.”
Panel Prize
The organisers say: “We are using these nominations to highlight the incredible support that these individuals and organisations give to artists and others at the Fringe.”
Henry Churney – Laugh For Life Comedy: “I decided to create Laugh For Life Comedy using my knowledge as a stand-up comedian and my previous experience supporting workplace wellbeing initiatives. I started with one course, supported by social prescribing via charities such as Care Merseyside and Come Together Hub. This has multiplied many times over. I have now run 15 courses working with vulnerable adults. It is a five week course that takes participants from their first nervous steps in the classroom all the way to performing on a professional stage. It is a process that builds confidence and communication skills and also builds a community; many of the participants finding a ‘Comedy Creative’ circle of friends that outlasts the course itself. Turning their struggles into a comedy set changes the relationship people have with their own story. They become the ones who control their narrative. In Edinburgh 2026, with no additional funding, I brought up 13 individuals, 11 of which were again debutant acts.”
Jess Brough – The Fringe of Colour Database: “The Fringe of Colour Database has become a guiding tool for audiences and performers alike, helping them to find shows by underrepresented artists. The Database is open access and has been used in numerous creative ways by other cultural producers, such as the makers of The Fringe In Living Colour, who have created an easy way to save and book these shows via a frankly quite beautiful website. Every August, I run numerous community events and meet-ups, connecting Creatives of Colour at the Fringe and making it a little easier for us to support each other. I host coffee hours, ticket swaps, and a big party where Scotland-based Artists of Colour – poets and DJs – have a platform to shine.”
Lee Kyle/Felt Nowt: “A comedy collective born out of the pandemic, raised funds to secure a full-time venue at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. The North East comedy collective is bringing 51 regional comedians to the Festival, providing a platform for performers who might otherwise never have the opportunity to take part. The group is running The Garrett, a 25 to 30-seat venue at The Alchemist on George Street, throughout the festival. Felt Nowt member Anja Atkinson has been a driving force behind the ambitious venture – A real logistical challenge of bringing so many North East comedians together for an entire month, while also performing her own show every day. Throughout the month-long run, The Garrett is showcasing comedians from across the North East, giving them a valuable opportunity to perform and reach audiences they might otherwise struggle to access.”
Live Comedy Association: “The Live Comedy Association (LCA) has set up a crowdfunding campaign to support those people most affected by the demise of Big Difference Company, the charity behind Leicester Comedy Festival. Hundreds of people are owed money, many of which are individuals working in live comedy. Some people can weather the storm but many cannot. We know some people have suffered poor mental health as a result of being owed money, and others are experiencing real hardship. The fund will prioritise those people most in need. The LCA previously distributed £5,000 to people unpaid by Big Difference Company but we know many more people still need support. The LCA says ‘We have loved being at the Fringe this month and enjoyed meeting with members to discuss their work and how we might support them further. We also hosted a panel discussion for comedians as part of the Fringe Central events programme. But for us the work continues year round and we will continue to represent our 1600 members and work to improve working conditions for people working in grassroots live comedy sector across the year. We will also keep shouting loudly to government and public agencies about the importance of live comedy and the need for support.”
Sarah-Louise Young: “Sarah has organised solo artists at the Fringe meet-ups at the Fringe since 2022 for a bit of peer to peer support. It has become a regular event at the Fringe, growing each year. Nobody leaves without making a connection, and people support people after the events and during the Fringe. Inspired by this, fellow theatremaker Victoria Melody and Sarah set up the Female & Female Identifying Solo Theatremakers Collective, which now has over 1000 members globally and offers year-round support for anyone making work alone. They expanded to include non-binary members and have plans to create a second group which welcomes all genders. They offer free online sessions throughout the year and a WhatsApp group support providing daily check-ins during Edinburgh.”
Charlie Award for Tech
Amber Ash – Mothman: A Romance Musical; Alex Franklin: Kiss Me x; Will & Noah: Dinner Dinner Chicken Winner; Will BF: Moon Team IIIV
Trekessa Austin – NewsRevue
Ella Catherall – Cerys Bradley: On Road Signs; Thinking Drinkers’ Great British Pub Ride; Tom Cashman; Zachary Ruane; Li Jin Hao; Fanny Bleach: The Nearly Naked Show; Falling From a Moon
Rachel Dobbie – Lawrence Dodd: This Can’t Be It
Jay Eisenberg – Casey Filips: What a Character
Jack James Fairley – Lilla Multipass: Woman(33)
Michael Goodwin – Ada and Bron; Amnesia; Locomotive for Murder; How to Art; Noise Zealand
Jack Grossman – Dog Funeral
Alastair “Ally” Haig – Juliette Burton: Board to Distraction; Get Your Geek On
Beth Hamilton – Chris Cantrill; Rachel Fairburn; Amy Matthews; Stu Laws; Dom McGovern
Barry Hilton – Frisky’s Remix Roulette
Simon Huntley – The Passion of Mr Cardboard
Murray Raeburn – Adam Flood: Life and Death of the Party
Josie Shipp – Olga Koch; Joseph Morpurgo; Jordan Brookes; Trans People Are Awful
Owen Visser – The Mr Thing Show
Best Technical Operator
Faye Bowker – Max Fulham: Monkey Business and Memory Foam; Andrew Frost: Just Let Me Have This; Fab Goualin: Mixed Messages; Metroland: As Seen on TV
Tayla Brittliff – Katie Norris; two Pierre Novellie shows; Russell Howard; Ed Gamble
Louisa Chang – The Past and her work at Underbelly.
Danae Crawford – Austentatious; Elouise Eftos: Aphrodite and Australia’s First Attractive Comedian; Dane Buckley: Darling; The Pitch; Vittorio Angelone: You Can’t Say Nothing Any More
Ethan Davies – Ruby Carr: Bite Me; Rosie Holt: The Illegal Aliens Have Landed!; Sam Nicoresti: Wokeflake and Baby Doomer; Emma Holland: The Dog Dies at the Start; The Glang Show
Martin England – Aalex Mandel-Dallal: Where Was I?; Impromptunes – The Completely Improvised Musical; Tom Towelling Teaches You to Knit
Alfie Haddon – Christopher Hall; Sam Morrison; one other unnamed show
Miranda Hamill – Born Sexy Yesterday
Paul Harfield – Hannah’s Roleplay
Conor Humphrey – Phil Ellis; Andrew Doherty; Kate Dolan; Frank Skinner
Emma Kerr – Making Love with David Magidoff; Dee Allum: Raumdeuter; Durk in Progress; The Adventures of Jasper Cromwell Jones as technical cover
Fabio Lezonli – Katie Pritchard Sir Elton Scone
Tim Lewis – Tim Key; Ahir Shah; Rory Marshall; Adam Riches: The Captain; John Tothill; others
Will Lewis – SLAY and technical work across the Gilded Balloon
Dave Nattriss – David Hoskin: A Haunted House
Leander Patterson – Sophie Garrad; Imogen Andrews; Paul&Suki’s Improv Show
Alexander Payne – Auditory Awakenings with Mr Tingles in the House of ASMR
Molly Stewart – Nish Kumar; Ania Magliano; Freddie Meredith; Ele McKenzie; others
Rhys Thomas – Rob Auton; MC Hammersmith; Flo & Joan’s One Man Musical; Matt Forde, Mike Wozniak
Joseph Webster – David Hoskin: Little Bit Horrible. Little Bit Good. / Death Clock; Daniel Maseda: Be Good! with Paulette
Talitha White – Bryn Woz: SMUT; operating seven shows during the Fringe
This year marks the fourth year of the ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards, which were started in 2023 at a time when it looked like the Edinburgh Comedy Awards might not be going ahead that year. The ISH awards are produced and judged by around 30 volunteers.
This will be the biggest ISH prize fund yet, with 100% of the £16,000 sponsorship going directly to artists across five awards. Best Show carries a £5,000 prize, Best Newcomer £4,000, the Panel Prize £5,000, with £1,000 for Best Tech and £1,000.01 for the Takeover Radio 106.9FM Joke of the Fringe. Returning supporters include James Corden, Rhod Gilbert, Elf Lyons and Takeover Radio 106.9FM, while this year’s new backers include Romesh Ranganathan, Sarah Millican and Mark Silcox.
Garry Starr has also donated £1,600 to the prize fund. It means every act nominated for Best Show and Best Newcomer will receive £100 – but on condition they attend the ceremony on Friday night to pick up their money.
Founder Nathan Cassidy says: “Huge congratulations to all of this year’s shortlisted artists. The lists celebrate an incredible array of performers creating brilliant work in so many different venues across the Fringe. I’d particularly like to thank our judges, my producer Sarah Bowles and tech wizard Jim Hooker, who have given up countless hours to see and consider an enormous number of shows. Their hard work, care and enthusiasm throughout the festival have been extraordinary. We’re also delighted to recognise the Panel Prize nominees, who all do such amazing work for different groups here at the Fringe and beyond. Their contribution helps make the festival a richer, more welcoming and more exciting place. And finally a massive thank you once again to our eight incredibly generous sponsors.”
