And the nominees for the Edinburgh Comedy Awards are...

The shortlists have been announced for this year’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards.

The nominations for Foster’s Best Comedy Show are:

Claudia O’Doherty: The Telescope (Underbelly, Cowgate)
Doctor Brown: Befrdfgth (Underbelly, Cowgate)
James Acaster: Prompt (Pleasance Courtyard)
Josie Long: Romance and Adventure (Pleasance Courtyard)
Pappy’s: Last Show Ever! (Pleasance Dome)
Tony Law: Maximum Nonsense (The Stand Comedy Club)

The nominations for best newcomer are:

Daniel Simonsen: Champions (Pleasance Courtyard)
David Trent: Spontaneous Comedian (Pleasance Courtyard)
Discover Ben Target: (Underbelly, Cowgate)
Joe Lycett: Some Lycett Hot (Pleasance Courtyard)
Sam Fletcher: Good On Paper (Bannermans)

Target performed his show 11 times on last year’s free fringe but was nonetheless deemed eligible for this year as the 2011 show was only 40 minutes long – the same tactic Late Night Gimp Fight used when they were nominated as newcomers.

Awards producer Nica Burns said: 'The nominees sum up an extraordinarily inventive year for comedy at this year’s Fringe. The shows demonstrate all the comedic art forms: stand-up, mime, sketch and multimedia experimentation. The performers are all immensely charismatic and often thought-provoking whilst being extremely funny. Two excellent nomination lists.'

The winners will be announced at lunchtime on Saturday.

The prize money for best comedy show is £10,000 with £5,000 each for the Best Newcomer and the Panel Prize winner who best encapsulates the spirit of the Fringe.

The judging panel is chaired by Lindsay Hughes of TV production company Baby Cow and comprises Ben Boyer from Sky, BBC radio producer Lyndsay Fenner, critics Briuce Dessau, Ben Williams, Dominic Maxwell and Paul Macinnes, and three public competiton winners: Oscar Cainer, Sophie Stubbs and Emma Watkins.

All shows eligible are automatically seen by the panel or scouts – and this year at least 536 shows were covered.

Published: 22 Aug 2012