Abby Wambaugh best newcomer

Elf Lyons has won this year’s ISH Edinburgh Comedy Award with Abby Wambaugh scooping the newcomer prize.

Both take home £5,000 courtesy of sponsors Jones Bootmaker, with the panel prize going five ways.

The winners of that, who each receive £1,000, were: 

• Elaine Robertson, chosen to  highlight the expense of accommodation, as she as been staying in a tent at a campsite near the airport for the month, and even that has cost her £700
• Alex Petty, for 20 years of running the Free Festival, including adding a neurodiversity hub at Bar 50 this year. He was previously named best person at the Comedians’ Comedian awards.
• Dion Owen, for running the Cyclopath Free Fringe Bike Program, which aims to provide artists attending the Fringe with a bike
• Best in Class, which also won the panel prize in the main Edinburgh Comedy Awards in 2022, and which helps working-class comedians perform at the Fringe
• Funny Women Glitter Project has been set up as a tribute to comedian and writer Jo Fletcher-Cross to offer support to women and non-binary artists bringing their first show to the Fringe

Lyons also won the Comedians’ Comedian award for her clowning show Horses earlier in the week.

And Danish-based American comic Abby Wambaugh won the ISH for her debut, The First 3 Minutes of 17 Shows.

The awards were founded last year by comedian Nathan Cassidy, when it appeared as if the absence of a sponsor would spell the end of the main Edinburgh Comedy Awards.

He used his speech at tonight's ceremony to highlight the support that some people give to others at the Fringe, and how this is needed more than ever, especially given the the rising costs.  

Around 30 volunteers judged the approximately 700 shows that were eligible for the awards.

Organisers also confirmed that the accolades will return in 2025. 

Published: 24 Aug 2024