Some of the biggest names to win the Edinburgh Comedy Award.placeholder image
Some of the biggest names to win the Edinburgh Comedy Award. | Getty Images

Who Has Won The Edinburgh Comedy Award? Here are 14 of the most famous comedians to have won the prize formely known at the Perrier - from Richard Gadd to Steve Coogan

The award has been a springboard to fame and fortune for many now famous faces.

Launched in 1981, the Edinburgh Comedy Award is presented to the comedy show judged to have been the best at the city’s Festival Fringe and is widely recognised as the most prestigious comedy prize in the UK.

Most famously known as the Perrier Award, over the years it’s also been known as the if.comedy awards and the if.comeddies, and this year it’s celebrating its 45th birthday.

Originally it was just a single prize for the best show, but a Best Newcomer category was added in 1992, followed by a Panel Prize (now the Victoria Wood Award) four years later - for acts who have made a special contribution to the Fringe Festival.

Last year Sam Nicoresti became the first trans comedian to win the Main Prize for her show Baby Doomer, while Ayoade Bamgboye took home the prize for Best Newcomer and was later snapped up to star in Saturday Night Live UK.

And this year’s comedy champions will be crowned on Saturday, August 29.

They will join a list of winners that includes some of the most biggest names in comedy.

Here are the 14 most famous winners in the award’s history.

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