Edinburgh Comedy awards 2019: surrealists, standups and sausage act vie for prize

The shortlist for the biggest prize in live comedy, the Edinburgh Comedy award, has been announced – and it’s one of the most diverse in the history of what used to be the Perrier. Straight standup, autobiographical shows, experimentalism and prop comedy are all recognised, alongside two sketch shows – representing a mini-revival for the artform. A year after New Zealand’s Rose Matafeo became the first person of colour to win the main award as a solo performer, two strong black British comedians also feature.

It’s a shortlist (or not-so-shortlist, given the record-equalling tally of comics involved) that features old hands and first-timers. The convention-bending Jordan Brookes makes a second appearance after 2017’s Body of Work, and his new, part-improvised offering I’ve Got Nothing will be among the favourites. Goofball Spencer Jones – whose sitcom The Mind of Herbert Clunkerdunk recently broadcast on BBC2 – was also nominated two summers ago. Birmingham standup Darren Harriott – a best newcomer nominee in the same year – graduates to the main list.

Sketch comedy is represented by the double acts Goodbear (Joe Barnes and Henry Perryment, with a show that pretends they’ve not turned up) and wildcards The Delightful Sausage (Chris Cantrill and Amy Gledhill), whose dark and daft hour is set in a holiday camp. Australian Demi Lardner is another freewheeling surrealist, whose work has wooed awards panels at the Melbourne Comedy festival but not – until now – in Edinburgh.

This year’s winner is more likely to come from the straighter trio of Ivo Graham, Jessica Fostekew and London Hughes. Graham has been delivering reliably funny sets on his days at Eton and his awkward poshness for some years – but new show The Game of Life is reportedly a big step up. Hughes has a once-seen, never-forgotten show about her sex life, To Catch a Dick, which showcases a personality that could illuminate Edinburgh’s military tattoo single-handedly. Fostekew’s show about body image and being a muscular woman is one of the buzziest in town, signalling an elevation to the big league for another act with more than a few fringes under her belt.

The winner of the award will be announced on Saturday and presented with the prize by Matafeo and Stephen Fry – who won the first ever Perrier award with the Cambridge Footlights in 1981. Whoever triumphs (previous champs include Frank Skinner, Bridget Christie and Nanette star Hannah Gadsby) will receive £10,000 and the best newcomer £5,000. The award is sponsored for the first time by the TV channel Dave, which also sponsors the Funniest Joke of the Fringe prize.

The shortlist caps a comedy festival notable this year for its open field, with plenty of big-hitting shows, but fewer shoo-ins for the shortlist than in previous years. New York musical comic Catherine Cohen is its most conspicuous omission, joining a pantheon of terrific American acts (Doug Stanhope, Bo Burnham, Kate Berlant) sidelined by the award over the years. Her consolation is a slot on this year’s best newcomer shortlist, which also includes Janine Harouni, Huge Davies, Helen Bauer, Michael Odewale, Crybabies, Nigel Ng and Sophie Duker.