Comedian Andrew Maxwell famously once called the Edinburgh Festival Fringe ‘exams for clowns’, and each year it’s the comics with the best jokes who get the ‘A’ grades.
The Edinburgh Comedy Award (formerly the Perrier Award) is handed out each year to the top clown in the class, and since 2008 is has been joined by The Funniest Joke of the Fringe Award.
Presented by television channel Dave, each year a shortlist of 10-15 jokes was drawn up by some of the leading comedy critics and comedians in the UK.
Designed to celebrate “the art of joke writing” and making people laugh, the general public then voted for the eventual winner.
This week it was announced that ‘U&Dave’s Funniest Joke Of The Fringe’, as it’s now called, would be scrapped from the 2025 Fringe, with the TV station behind the gong saying it is “resting”.
So we thought it would be the perfect time to revisit the 16 jokes that have made the grade since the prize was established.
13. 2011: Nick Helm
"I needed a password eight characters long so I picked Snow White and the Seven Dwarves." | Getty Images
14. 2010: Tim Vine
"I've just been on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. I'll tell you what, never again." | Getty Images
16. 2008: Zoe Lyons
"I can't believe Amy Winehouse self-harms. She's so irritating she must be able to find someone to do it for her." | Getty Images