Amused Moose puts up £5,000 prize

A new award has been launched for the best comedy show at the Edinburgh Fringe.

The Amused Moose Laughter Award will award £5,000 to the funniest show in the festival, as judged by a combination of industry professionals and Fringe audiences.

It is being backed by DVD label 2entertain, and open to any act without an existing DVD deal, performing in the comedy section of the Edinburgh Fringe on at least 19 of the 22 dates between August 6 and 27.

2entertain’s managing director Stuart Snaith said the aim of the award was to unearth ‘experienced but still undiscovered comedy talent who are on the verge of breaking through to the big time’.

Amused Moose producer Hils Jago added: ‘Once a performer has an option or deal of any kind from a DVD company, it is indisputable that they've been discovered. The lack of a current DVD option/deal is justifiably the sole qualification for entering.’

The new award is a companion to the existing Amused Moose Laugh Off award for new talent, which boasts a £1,500 prize. Nationwide heats for this award are currently under way, with the final also held at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Judging of the Laughter Award involves several rounds:

• First performers upload a full show online by early August. The can be password protected so only the judges can watch it. From this, a panel of comedy industry figures will longlist at least 20 shows

• A panel then watches each of these shows live at the Fringe, to produce a top ten shortlist.

• Amused Moose will then produce a showcase event, featuring ten minutes of each of the top ten acts, which will take place at the Bongo Club on August 21. Here, audience votes and panel votes will be combined to produce three finalists

• Over the following days, audiences from the final three shows will be exit-polled to produce one element of the deciding criteria. At the final, to be held in the middle of the Fringe’s last week, the last three shows will again perform ten-minute extracts. Votes from the audience and the judges are again combined to produce the winner or – in the event of a tie – a winner and a People’s Choice champion.

By comparison, the Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award is decided upon entirely by an industry panel, and is worth £10,000 cash to the winner.

For more information about the Amused Moose awards, visit the website.

Published: 10 Mar 2011