No quidding! Joke about new pound is tops

A JOKE about the new pound coin was named the best of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe yesterday.

Ken Cheng won the Funniest Joke Of The Fringe with the line: “I’m not a fan of the new pound coin, but then again, I hate all change.“

The joke, from the comedian’s show Ken Cheng: Chinese Comedian, got 33 per cent of a public vote on a shortlist of gags picked by comedy critics.

Previous winners of the award from TV Channel Dave include Tim Vine, Stewart Francis and Zoe Lyons.

Cheng studied maths at Cambridge for a year before dropping out to play online poker professionally.

His big break in showbiz came when he reached the final of the 2015 BBC Radio New Comedy Award.

Yesterday Cheng said: “I am very proud to have won.

“As a tribute, I will name my firstborn son after this award and call him Joke Of The Fringe.”

Frankie Boyle came second in the poll for his line: “Trump’s nothing like Hitler. There’s no way he could write a book.” The 10th annual award, which was voted on by 2,000 people, lists jokes anonymously to avoid any bias towards well-known comedians.

Steve North, general manager of Dave, said: “From Trump and veganism to the new pound coin, this year’s news agenda has certainly also provided some great inspiration for comedians to get to grips with.

“It’s fantastic to see that, even after ten years of the Joke Of The Fringe award, there is no shortage of brilliant one-liners delivered at the festival.” The top 15 funniest jokes included one by Lew Fitz, who got 28 per cent of the vote with: “I’m looking for the girl next door type. I’m just gonna keep moving house till I find her.”

Mark Simmons got 27 per cent with: “Combine Harvesters. And you’ll have a really big restaurant.”

Jimeoin got 26 per cent with: “I’m rubbish with names. It’s not my fault, it’s a condition. There’s a name for it...” And Adam Hess got 18 per cent with: “I wonder how many chameleons snuck onto the Ark.” Tim Vine