The winner of the Biggest Award in Comedy at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025 is Ayoade Bamgboye with her debut show Swings and Roundabouts. The winner was decided by audience voting and a panel of NextUp judges over the last three weeks.
Ayoade receives a 2 metre 3cm inflatable trophy (literally the biggest award in comedy, and 1cm bigger than last year), plus:
An electric pump and a carry case so the award can be proudly displayed anywhere
£500
The option to have her special recorded for the NextUp Platform
On hearing she won, Ayoade said: “I can’t stress how honoured I am to receive the Biggest Award in Comedy, just being nominated was a dream and winning is something else entirely! Thank you to everyone who’s voted, to the other nominees whose work inspires me, to everyone who’s come to my shows, I’ll never stop saying thank you!.”
Sarah Henley, NextUp founder said: “We’re over the moon that Ayoade Bamgboye has taken home this year’s Biggest Award in Comedy! Swings and Roundabouts is a joy of a show - it’s smart, silly, surprising and totally her own. One minute Ayoade’s dancing through accents and songs, the next she’s sharing something real and heartfelt. It’s laugh-out-loud funny and it makes you think. The standard this year is really high, so massive congrats to our runners up, Joz Norris and Sam Nicoresti as well – both brought incredible shows. For Ayoade though, the real challenge now is figuring out how to get that giant inflatable trophy home…it’s a beast!”
Ayoade is on at the Pleasance Courtyard, Beneath until the 24th August. Tickets available here. And if you’re not in Edinburgh, you can stream the show on NextUp on the 25th August at 10pm.
As well as organising the Biggest Award in Comedy, NextUp have been live streaming shows from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Upcoming live shows include Best in Class (22nd), Monkey Barrel Big Show (23rd), Tarot: the “Best” of (24th), Gobby Girls: The 11% Club (24th), Amy Annette (25th) and our winner Ayoade Bamgboye (25th).
