Continuing our themed previews

A mammoth 121 comedy shows at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe programme boast that their performers have won awards, from Derek Awards (given by a bloke with 600 followers on Twitter) to Emmys. Here are just ten of them.

1. Hannah Gadsby: Woof!

Last time Gadsby was at the Fringe they won the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Nanette (sharing it with John Robins) – and then went on to scoop an Emmy and, even more prestigiously, two Chortle Awards. Woof! is a looser offering, addressing the comic’s anxieties, prompted by a meltdown at an ice cream shack, and newfound privileges – but also taking in accessible observational comedy and state-of-the-world political commentary. Read our review of the show from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival here.

Underbelly, Bristo Square, 5.20pm, August 18 to 25

For completeness, Vir Das, as mentioned in last week’s run-down of Indian comedians playing the Fringe, won an international Emmy last year for his standup special Landing.  

American stand-up Anna Akana – whose Pleasance Courtyard show It Gets Darker recounts her experiences with a stalker –starred in Youth & Consequences which was nominated for an Emmy for outstanding digital daytime drama series in 2019. And Jacki Thrapp, whose Art of Selling Out is on at Greenside @ Riddles Court from August 2-10 bills herself as an Emmy winner since the PIX11 Morning News programme she wrote on as a journalist won ‘best morning newscast: larger markets’ in the New York version of the awards in 2017.

2. Jack Docherty in The Chief: No Apologies 

From Emmy to Bafta. Scot Squad won the best scripted comedy award in Scotland in 2018, with Docherty nominated for his portrayal of the gaffe-prone  Chief Commissioner Cameron Miekelson in 2022. The title of his second live show in character is presumably a reference to this clip, which went viral:

A BBC spin-off is set to hit screens this autumn, but in the meantime, this show promises a mix of old Scot Squad sketches and  new material. 

Gilded Balloon Patter House, 8pm, August 2 to 15

3. Joe Kent-Walters is Frankie Monroe: LIVE!!! 

Joe Kent-Walters won the  Covid-delayed 2021 Chortle Student Comedy in the guise of a pretentious actory type – then two years later took the BBC New Comedy Award with the character of Frankie Monroe, pictured, ’Yorkshire’s biggest bastard’. He’s an old-school variety turn who has made a deal with the Devil to keep his working men's club going. It’s a mad and unpredictable act, and performing in the late-night Monkey Barrel slot that has become known for breaking cult favourites.

Monkey Barrel Comedy 11.25pm, July 29 to August 25

4. Catherine Cohen: Come For Me

Cohen’s ballsy, gloriously self-centred The Twist Is… She’s Gorgeous was the word-of-mouth hit of the 2019 festival, scooping the best newcomer gong and converted into a Netflix special. Her follow-up, which toured the UK last year (see our review here) gives even greater rein to her monstrously egocentric persona, has even more to overshare.

Pleasance Courtyard, 10pm, August 1 to 25

5. Phil Ellis: Come On And Take The Rest of Me 

His stage shtick might be that he’s a perpetual loser, coming all-out to entertain as this is all that he’s got in life, but Phil Ellis was an actual winner last year, having taken the Malcom Hardee award for comic originality for his full-on comic extravaganza. He was also nominated for the main award at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, having scooped the Panel Prize in 2014 for his hilariously unsuitable kids’ show Funz and Gamez. ‘He’s already given his best, but now he’s giving his besterest!’ goes the blurb for his 2024 offering…

Monkey Barrel Comedy 12.45pm, July 31 to August 25

6 Katie Norris: Farm Fatale 

Formerly part of the double act Norris & Parker, Katie Norris won the Musical Comedy Awards last year and in her solo debut she draws on her rural an ‘agricultural icon, likely to cause delight or distress to anyone who becomes involved with her, or her livestock’ – but also covers exceptions imposed on women and challenges of dating in her mid-thirties. The show has been directed by Elf Lyons and features original music composed by Chris Thomson and Huge Davies.

Pleasance Courtyard, 8.30pm, July 31 to August 25

7. Alfie Brown: Open Hearted Human Enquiry

Alfie Brown’s show Sensitive Man won the 2022 Chortle Best Show Award and was nominated in the Edinburgh Comedy Award. But last year his standing took a bit of a bash after routines in which he repeatedly used the N-word resurfaced – thanks to the digging of those who he upset by calling out antisemitism in the Labour party. This is his first show since then, when  ‘the fabric of his reality disintegrated’ and promises to examine his failures and misfortunes, and separate them. 

Just the Tonic at The Caves, 11.35pm, August 1 to 25

8. Sallyann Fellowes: Salien

Sallyann Fellowes won Leicester Square Theatre’s New Comedian Of The Year title last year – the first woman to take the title in the competition’s 14-year history.  He ‘weird’ show Salian is about not fitting in, for as a neurodiverse and queer woman she sees the world as alien.

Underbelly Bristo Square, 4.15pm, July 31 to August 25

9. Caitriona Dowden is Holier Than Thou 

Another former Chortle student winner (from 2022), the deadpan and nerdy Caitriona Dowden has delved into her love of medieval history and combined it with her lapsed Catholicism to she if has what it takes to become a saint. Now that WOULD be an award worth winning…

PBH Free Fringe at Banshee Labyrinth, 12.50pm, August ​3 to 25

 10. Paddy Young: Paddy Young: If I Told You I'd Have To Kiss You

Current Chortle best newcomer titleholder, Paddy Young was also nominated in the same category of last year’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards for his debut Hungry, Horny, Scared – which has also embarked on a small tour of the UK. Precise details of Young’s sophomore show are scant, but he’s highly tipped. Even Joe Lycett has called him ‘one of the most exciting new comics I’ve seen for a long time’.

Monkey Barrel Comedy 7.50pm, July 30 to August 23

Published: 22 Jul 2024