Finlay Christie wins So You Think You're Funny?

Edinburgh new act hunt in its 32nd year

Finlay Christie has won this year’s So You Think You’re Funny? new act competition at the Edinburgh Fringe.

The 19-year-old student takes home a £2,500 prize and the chance to appear at Montreal’s Just For Laughs festival next year.

Ireland's Shane Daniel Byrne, a former contemporary performance artist, came second and Charlie George, a former circus performer, came third.

Edinburgh’s Gilded Balloon has been running the competition for 32 years and previous winners and finalists include Rhod Gilbert, Lee Mack, Aisling Bea, Dylan Moran, Peter Kay, Romesh Ranganathan, Sarah Millican, Jack Whitehall and Kevin Bridges.

It was the second final of the Fringe for Christie, who also appeard in the Chortle Student Comedy Award which was won by Erika Ehler, another of tonight's So You Think You’re Funny? finalists.

Here's Christie's set from the Chortle final:

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The full list of finalists tonight was:

Charlie George: A former circus performer and dancer, she came to comedy to find her voice, who earlier this year won the LGBTQ+ New Comedian of the Year run by London’s Comedy Bloomers club.

Claire Haus: A British-Canadian writer and comedian. With a background in theatre, art, improv and sketch, Haus has performed around the world, including Toronto, Chicago, Berlin, Sarajevo and Bogotá..

Denis Len: Comic from Cork who also hosts a weekly comedy podcast about Irish TV soap opera Fair City

Erika Ehler: A 21-year-old from Toronto, Canada currently living in the UK, who earlier this month took the Chortle Student Comedy Award

Fady Kassab: A Lebanese-Australian stand-up comedian who lived through 17 years of the Lebanese war. He won Raw Comedy in Australia earlier this year, which brought him to this final,and is constantly worried about people’s expectations now.

Finlay Christie: Another 2019 Chortle Student Comedy finalist, is studying at University College London.

Kate Bancroft: Originally from Baltimore, Kate started doing stand up about a year ago and jokes about anxiety, loneliness, human interactions and more. She currently splits her time between London and NYC.