Industry | 2009.08.26
Comedy prize nominees announced
Of all the shows shortlisted for the Edinburgh Comedy awards this year, not one contender is female
One tells the story of a bungled journey on Virgin trains , another confesses to the break-up of a corporate career and marriage . One manic standup spends a show questioning human behaviour , while another pulls the crowds in with a punning show title . Vitriolic spleen is vented on BT and the BNP , while a four-man troupe appear in a sketch on the second world war .
It\'s a list fuelled by testosterone at the Edinburgh Comedy awards this year, the industry\'s answer to the Oscars, with not a single female standup nominated among the 11 shortlisted shows.
The six nominations for the best comedy show – bumped up from a total of four last year – are Idiots of Ants , John Bishop , Jon Richardson, Russell Kane, Tim Key and Tom Wrigglesworth , while rising stars Carl Donnelly , Jack Whitehall , Johnny Sweet, Kevin Bridges and Pete Johansson are all scrapping it out for the Best Newcomer slot.
The news comes despite the fact that women are making up roughly 15% of all comedy shows at the fringe this year, and have sparked a healthy buzz on Edinburgh\'s Royal Mile. Success stories from last year\'s fringe, Sarah Millican and Shappi Khorsandi , are both back at the festival while former winner Laura Solon, Ava Vidal, Celia Pacquola and Janeane Garofalo have all notched up four-star reviews and a succession of packed shows.
Only two women – Jenny Eclair and Laura Solon – have won the award in its 29-year-history, formerly known as the Perrier\'s, and more recently as the if.comedy awards. An £8,000 cash prize, which includes automatic invites to perform at comedy festivals across the world (and a significant boost in earnings), is to be awarded to the winner of the best comedy show, with the best newcomer picking up a cheque for £4,000. The two winners will be announced in a ceremony on Saturday 29 August.
The panel of judges is headed by Tim Arthur, comedy editor for Time Out magazine, and includes four punters – competition winners – who have sat alongside Tania Harrison, a promoter for Festival Republic, Dominic Maxwell, theatre and comedy editor for the Times, Caroline Raphael, commissioning editor for comedy on Radio 4, UKTV commissioning editor Joff Powell and the Guardian\'s very own Paul MacInnes .
Nica Burns, founder and producer of the awards, said the shortlist still reflected "an outstanding year of highly creative, original comedy performance" but admitted that "on a personal basis, I can\'t help but be disapointed that no women made the list".
It\'s been a mixed year for Burns, after Intelligent Finance abruptly ended their sponsorship deal for the comedy prize in April . Burns said it was "the last thing I wanted to do only three years after ending our association with Perrier", but was confident the change would allow the awards to be permanently rebranded as the Eddies, regardless of future sponsorship deals.
The nominations for the Best Comedy show are:
Idiots of Ants: This is War
John Bishop: Elvis Has Left the Building
Jon Richardson: This Guy at Night
Russell Kane: Human Dressage
Tim Key: The Slutcracker
Tom Wrigglesworth: Open Letter to Richard Branson
The nominations for Best Newcomer are:
Carl Donnelly: Relax Everyone, it\'s Carl Donnelly
Jack Whitehall: Nearly Rebellious
Jonny Sweet: Mostly About Arthur
Kevin Bridges: An Hour To Sing For Your Soul
Pete Johansson: Naked Pictures of My Life
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/a[...]urgh-comedy-awards-nominations
