Hotshows

A guide to the best shows at the Festival by The Scotsman’s top team of reviewers

the final results are the result of a secret vote. Last year the panel found out Richard Gadd and Scott Gibson had won at the same time as the rest of the world. It’s a magic moment. Winning changes lives. There are exceptions. Daniel Kitson (2002) has forged a career path which avoids television and advertising and mime artist Doctor Brown (2012) is ploughing his own mysterious furrow.

But if you look at the list of past winners and nominees you’ll see a roll call of fame – Steve Coogan (1992), Dylan Moran (1996), Bridget Christie (2013). The Comedy Awards have made Edinburgh the comedians’ New Year – a place where comics from around the world come to present their best and most brilliant work to the world and where success can await for those who want it. The awards are good for Edinburgh. There are always people who say art should never become a competition and that awards and prizes are a symptom of a sick capitalist system that knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. (Hi, Stewart Lee!) And there are also people who criticise the awards for accepting commercial sponsorship.

The amount contributed this year and last by lastminute.com is not public. But one of the things sponsorship makes possible is to offer travel costs and accommodation to the scouts and the panel. This enables national newspaper critics and television and radio scouts to stay in Edinburgh for the whole festival – which means comics across the board have more chance to be seen. Don’t mess with Nica Burns. Nica has been at the head of the awards for 36 years. She doesn’t have any say in the judging but she sees a lot and you’ll often see her standing outside a portable building in the rain. I met her in just these circumstances last year when an opinion piece by a disgruntled comic had just appeared in a national newspaper, slating the awards and what they stand for. “Did you see it?” I asked her.

“Oh, it happens every year,” she said. “If they don’t like it I’ll just stop.” Gilded Balloon Teviot JJJJ Summerhall JJJJJ Assembly Hall JJJJ Summerhall JJJJ