The Edinburgh Comedy Awards panel for 2016 has been announced.

The Awards, produced by Nica Burns (pictured) are sponsored by lastminute.com for the first time this year.

There will, as is traditional, be three Awards, which are:

• Best Comedy Show with a cash prize of £10,000
• Best Newcomer with a cash prize of £5,000
• Panel Prize with a cash prize of £5,000

Over 600 shows will be judged.

The shortlist for the lastminute.com Edinburgh Comedy Awards will be announced on Wednesday 24 August and the winners will be announced on Saturday 27 August.

The panel is as follows:

• Chair: Alice Jones:
  Arts Editor, i
• Dominic Maxwell:
  Theatre & Comedy Critic, The Times
• Sam Michell:
  BBC Comedy Editor
• Susan Provan:
  Melbourne International Comedy Festival
• Laura Riseam:
  Assistant Editor, Comedy, Channel 4
• Saskia Schuster:
  Commissioning Editor, ITV
• Claire Smith:
  Reviewer and Feature Writer, The Scotsman
• Sam Haslam:
  Public Panel Competition Winner
• Jim Johnsone:
  Public Panel Competition Winner
• Niki di Palma:
  Public Panel Competition Winner