The ‘Oscars of Comedy’ have today announced their nominations for the biggest prizes in the world of comedy: the Audible Best Comedy Show and the Taffner Family Best Newcomer Award.
Now in their 46th year, the Edinburgh Comedy Awards have established an extraordinary track record discovering and spotlighting emerging comedy talent. The judging panel, chaired by Liz Lewin, Director of Comedy Series, Netflix UK, reached its decision following a rigorous process in which the panel and scouts (all former judges) collectively watched the 550+ eligible shows, amounting to more than 1,400 viewings.
Showcasing a breathtaking variety of comedic talent and skills, the 2026 nominees address a wide range of subjects that reflect contemporary life and issues. Themes covered include community, connection, mental health, maturing, nostalgia, self-knowledge and hope.
The nominees for the Audible Best Comedy Show are:
- Chris Cantrill: Rewilding
- Dan Tiernan: Quartz and All
- Harriet Dyer: Easily Distra...
- Lara Ricote: INKLING
- Li Jin Hao: Falling From a Moon
- Spencer Jones: Dogs
The nominees for the Taffner Family Best Newcomer Award are:
- Dom McGovern: Prize Hog
- Fatiha El-Ghorri: Cockney Stacking Doll
- Freddie Meredith: Need a Light?
- Marty Gleeson: Dog Ear
- Omar Badawy: Guided Detour
- Tom Towelling Teaches You to Knit
- UNDERGROUND MONK SHOW
Nica Burns CBE, Director of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, and Emma Brünjes, Executive Director of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, said: “Our 2026 nominees have all created brilliantly funny, well written and performed shows. The Edinburgh Fringe is a place for experimentation and discovery and the nominees of Best Comedy Show and Best Newcomer are all outstanding examples. As the comedy industry strives for recognition for comedy as an art form, the comedians at the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe collectively make a powerful case.”
Liz Lewin, Director of Comedy Series, Netflix UK and Chair of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2026 panel, said: “What struck all of us on the panel this year is the range this shortlist covers – different backgrounds, styles, routes into a joke – yet every one of them made a room fall about laughing in a way only they could. Ten of us argued, laughed, and agreed… eventually! These are the people shaping the comedy landscape and we can't wait for audiences beyond Edinburgh to enjoy them as much as we did.”
The winners of the 2026 Edinburgh Comedy Awards – including the recipient of the Audible Panel Prize – will be announced at a ceremony hosted by Richard Gadd (winner of Best Comedy Show 2016, Baby Reindeer, Half Man) and Ayoade Bamgboye (winner of Best Newcomer 2025, SNL UK) on Saturday 29th August 2026 at Ghillie Dhu.
The 2026 Edinburgh Comedy Awards Gala will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Saturday 29th August at 11pm and available to catch up on BBC Sounds. The Gala will feature nominees for the Audible Best Comedy Show and the Taffner Family Best Newcomer Award, bringing highlights of the Fringe to listeners all over the UK.
The judges for the Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2026 are:
- Liz Lewin (Panel Chair): Director of Comedy Series, Netflix UK
- Sasha Bobak: Comedy and Entertainment Producer, BBC Studios
- Sam Bryant: Director of Original Content / Head of Comedy, Audible
- Amar Chauhan: Public Panellist
- Tristram Fane Saunders: Freelance Arts Journalist and Comedy Critic, The Telegraph
- Isabelle Jackson: Public Panellist
- Dominic Maxwell: Comedy and Theatre Critic for The Times and The Sunday Times
- Louise Robb: Public Panellist
- Anya Ryan: Comedy and Theatre Critic at The Guardian, The Times, TimeOut, The Stage
- Darren Smith: Creative Director, DLT Entertainment
The Fringe remains the key launchpad for comedians and the Edinburgh Comedy Awards play a vital role in spotlighting emerging talent. Recently, winners have gone on to appear in high-profile projects including Last One Laughing S2, which starred Best Comedy Show winners Amy Gledhill (2024) and Sam Campbell (2022), and SNL UK, which features 2025 Best Newcomer winner Ayoade Bamgboye plus four other nominees: Larry Dean, George Fouracres (as part of sketch trio Daphne), Ania Magliano, and Paddy Young. In April of this year, 2016 winner Richard Gadd’s Half Man, a six-part TV drama, premiered on the BBC and HBO, and in May the BBC announced it has commissioned a new comedy Opening Up from 2024 winner Amy Gledhill.
The Awards have a fantastic record for discovering comedians who become successful both nationally and world wide. Previous Award winners include Stephen Fry, Steve Coogan, Lee Evans, Al Murray, Sarah Millican, Omid Djalili, Eddie Izzard, Tim Minchin, The League of Gentlemen, Jenny Eclair and Frank Skinner. Many award winners and nominees have gone on to have a significant impact on mainstream popular culture by writing, directing and acting in some of the most iconic television and film over the last four decades, including Green Wing and Smack The Pony (Victoria Pile), Sherlock (Mark Gatiss), Alan Partridge and Philomena (Steve Coogan), Car Share (Peter Kay), The IT Crowd (Richard Ayoade), Benidorm and No.9 (Steve Pemberton), Doctor Who and her eponymous TV show (Catherine Tate), W1A (Sara Pascoe), Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (Romesh Ranganathan), Sex Education (Hannah Gadsby), This Way Up (Aisling Bea), Baby Reindeer (Richard Gadd), The Mash Report and Pod Save the UK (Nish Kumar) and Starstruck (Rose Matafeo).
Best Newcomer nominee Alex Horne created the BAFTA award-winning TV series Taskmaster, which has had appearances from 45 Edinburgh Comedy Awards winners and nominees across its 22 series.
