Edinburgh, 20 August 2026 — Comedian Olaf Falafel, from Luton, has been crowned winner of the (some guy called) Dave Joke of the Fringe 2026, part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026, with the joke:
“I remember thinking, as I taped a piranha to my boomerang, this could come back to bite me.”
Falafel takes home the coveted title, trophy and £500 cash prize. He also sets a new record for the competition by landing three separate jokes in this year’s Top 10 — at numbers 1, 2 and 10.
Falafel previously won UKTV’s Dave Joke of the Fringe in 2019. Seven years later, he has returned to the top spot while becoming the first comedian in the revived competition to place three jokes in the same Top 10.
Olaf Falafel said: “I’ve just released a children’s book called ‘Dave, Don’t Give Up!’ and the synchronicity of now winning the Dave award is astonishing.”
How the Top 10 Was Chosen
Comedians performing at the Fringe were invited to submit the best jokes from their shows. Returning one-liner judges Gary Delaney (Live at the Apollo, Mock the Week), Mark Simmons (Mock the Week; Dave’s Joke of the Fringe winner 2024) and Darren Walsh (UK Pun Champion 2014; Dave’s Joke of the Fringe winner 2015) were joined this year by one-liner expert, Milton Jones (Mock the Week, Live at the Apollo) to create the longlist.
The final decision was then handed over to Jen Woolfson and her friends, Fringe-goers who were taking a break on the Cowgate before heading to Sofie Hagen’s show. They chose the final Top 10 and this year’s winner in the lobby of the Stay Central Hotel — and the judging may have made them a little late for the show. Apologies, Sofie.
Jen said that she and her friends have been coming to the Fringe for 10 years and absolutely loved their three intense days in Edinburgh this year.
The Top 10 Jokes of the Fringe 2026
1. I remember thinking, as I taped a piranha to my boomerang, this could come back to bite me. — OLAF FALAFEL
2. My paper manufacturing business has folded seven times so I'm pretty sure it can't happen again. — OLAF FALAFEL
3. My therapist says I’m very judgemental, but what does he know? He lives in a house boat. — SPRING DAY
4. 99% of the poor are work-shy thugs. That's a conservative estimate. — ED MULVEY
5. It’s hard to get Ozempic, there are a lot of hoops to go through and I didn’t fit through any of them. — ADAM GREENE
6. I did my horse-riding training before I did my philosophy degree. I didn't want to put Descartes before the horse. — DAVID ROSE
7. I never understood osmosis. Hard to say why, but whenever my teacher mentioned it my brain went from a level of high concentration to a level of low concentration. — ALEX KITSON
8. You can learn a lot about camping online but you learn so much more in the field. — ROGER SWIFT
9. I'll never forget the look on my dad's face, when I told him I had a photographic memory. — KEVIN O’BRIEN
10. I suffer from FOMO. Fear of messing up acronyms. — OLAF FALAFEL
Olaf Falafel at the Fringe
Olaf Falafel’s Stupidest Super Stupid Show: This Time It’s Stupider! — 11:30am daily at The Counting House (Venue 170). Edinburgh Fringe listing
Olaf Falafel Presents: I Used to Work in a Helium Balloon Factory Until they Let Me Go — 2:30pm daily at The Pear Tree (Venue 257). Edinburgh Fringe listing
The (some guy called) Dave Joke of the Fringe was created by comedian Will Mars and produced by Need to Know Comedy. Mars first ran the alternative award in 2021 when UKTV did not run its traditional Dave Joke of the Fringe competition during the partial post-pandemic Fringe. He brought (some guy called) Dave back in 2025 when UKTV again put its competition on hold, giving Fringe comedians another platform for their best one-liners and jokes.
Previous Winners
2025 — Andy Gleeks: “I had to visit the trauma unit last weekend. He prefers the term dad.”
2021 — Masai Graham: “I thought the word ‘Caesarean’ began with the letter ‘S’ but when I looked in the dictionary, it was in the ‘C’ section.”
