Foo's our student comedy award winner

Jade Kelly runner-up

South African-born comic Foo has become the 20th winner of the Chortle Student Comedy Award.

The 29-year-old, originally from Johannesburg and now studying for a DPhil in management at Oxford, took the title at the Edinburgh Fringe last night.

He wins £1,000, with £250 going to the runner-up, Jade Kelly, a 30-year-old studying a postgraduate diploma in education at Edinburgh University.

The final – hosted by Mark Watson – will be broadcast by NextUp tonight. Use code STUDENT10 for a 10 per cent discount on an annual subscription.

Also taking part in last night’s final in Pleasance One – were

Anna Rae, 28, originally from Kansas, and now doing a social data science PhD at Oxford
Caitlin Powell, 28, who is doing an at history PhD at University College London
Cormac Sinnott, 22, and a law student at Trinity College Dublin
Leo Hincks, a 20-year-old film and theatre student at Bristol University
Mohaimen Quaunine, 28, a masters student in digital marketing at the University of West London
Oliver Moore, a 21-year-old politics student at Kings College London.

This is the 20th year of the Chortle Student Comedy Award, previously won by the likes of Joe Lycett, Jamali Maddix, and Phil Wang, and featuring Ed Gamble, Simon Bird, Chris Ramsey, Iain Stirling, Richard Gadd and Lauren Pattison as finalists.

See all the previous winners and finalists here.

Thanks for reading. If you find Chortle’s coverage of the comedy scene useful or interesting, please consider supporting us with a monthly or one-off ko-fi donation.

Any money you contribute will directly fund more reviews, interviews and features – the sort of in-depth coverage that is increasingly difficult to fund from ever-squeezed advertising income, but which we think the UK’s vibrant comedy scene deserves.

Subscribe or donate here

Published: 13 Aug 2024