Sam Eley is Basil Crumbwick: Soul Sewage has won the Biggest Award in Comedy at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026.
Dane Buckley: Darling and Scout Boxall: God’s Favourite finished as runners-up after an exceptionally close final vote.
The winner was selected by users of comedy streamer NextUp, following an initial round of audience nominations and recommendations from NextUp’s team of comedy scouts. Twenty shows were longlisted before members cast their final votes.
Sam receives an enormous 2 metre 4 centimetre inflatable trophy - literally the biggest award in comedy and 1cm bigger than last year’s, plus:
-
A pump and carry case, allowing the award to be displayed proudly and transported
-
£500
-
The option to have Soul Sewage recorded and distributed worldwide as a NextUp comedy special
On hearing that he had won, Sam said: “What an honour! I brought my weird little show to the fringe, hoping to find a small collection of nutters who liked it, but I never expected to reach so many people. It means the world that people have been enjoying what I do, and to be recognised by NextUp is the cherry on top of what's been the maddest month of my life. Thank you!”
Sarah Henley, NextUp co-founder, said: “We’re absolutely delighted that Sam and the magnificently awful Basil Crumbwick have won this year’s Biggest Award in Comedy.
Soul Sewage is gloriously strange, brilliantly performed and properly funny. Basil is the sort of bloke you’d cross the road to avoid in real life but delight in spending an hour with at the Fringe.
The response from our members and scouts has been overwhelming this year, and Sam emerged from an incredibly strong field. We’re also thrilled to recognise Dane Buckley and Scout Boxall as runners-up. Darling and God’s Favourite are both exceptional shows, and this was an extremely tight race.”
Soul Sewage introduces audiences to Basil Crumbwick, a deeply unpleasant late-night villain created and performed by comedian and writer Sam Eley. Eley won Sketch Off in 2025 and was nominated for Best Variety Show at the 2026 Leicester Comedy Festival.
Runner-up Dane Buckley made his Edinburgh debut with Darling, a cheeky and heartfelt hour about his Irish and Indian family, parish priests and an enduring love of butter. Buckley has appeared on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, BBC One and Comedy Central.
Fellow runner-up Scout Boxall brought the acclaimed God’s Favourite to Edinburgh following a nomination for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s Most Outstanding Show and victory in the Pinder Prize. The darkly funny show recounts a psychologically harrowing night of manic withdrawal with rawness, theatricality and considerable mischief.
Tickets and further information:
Photo credit: Sam Eley is Basil Crumbwick wins NextUp’s Biggest Award in Comedy 2026
