22nd August 2023
Comedian Lorna Rose Treen wins Daves Funniest Joke of The Fringe Award with zookeeper joke
A shortlist of jokes were chosen by a panel of UK comedy critics from shows at this years Fringe and anonymously voted for by the British public
Other jokes in the Top 10 include one-liners from the likes of Liz Guterbock, Amos Gill and Masai Graham
Themes such as overly apologetic Brits and inflation also feature in the winning list
2023 marks the fourteenth year of Daves Funniest Joke of the Fringe Award
Dave, the BAFTA-winning UKTV entertainment channel, has announced the winner of its fourteenth Daves Funniest Joke of the Fringe award.
Comedian, Lorna Rose Treen, was voted the winner with her witty pun: I started dating a zookeeper, but it turned out he was a cheetah. The joke, taken from her show Skin Pigeon at Pleasance Courtyard, topped the list of funniest of the Fringe with 44% of Brits surveyed voting it the most hilarious rib-tickler.
To seek out the best one-liners and wisecracks for the greatly anticipated Joke of the Fringe award, Dave recruited an expert panel of acclaimed judges made up of some of the leading comedy critics in the UK.
These panellists attended hundreds of shows across the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, listening out for those jokes which tickled them the most, then submitted their ten favourites. This shortlist was then submitted anonymously - without the name of the comic involved - to a public vote of 2,000 Brits, after which the funniest was revealed.
When asked to select a top three, Daves Top 10 Funniest Jokes of the Fringe Festival 2023 revealed:
I started dating a zookeeper, but it turned out he was a cheetah. Lorna Rose Treen - 44%
The most British thing Ive ever heard? A lady who said Well Im sorry, but I dont apologise. Liz Guterbock - 41%
Last year I had a great joke about inflation. But its hardly worth it now. Amos Gill - 40%
When women gossip we get called bitchy; but when men do its called a podcast. Sikisa - 34%
I thought Id start off with a joke about The Titanic - just to break the ice. Masai Graham - 33%
How do coeliac Germans greet each other? Gluten tag. Frank Lavender - 32%
My friend got locked in a coffee place overnight. Now he only ever goes into Starbucks, not the rivals. Hes Costa-phobic. Roger Swift - 29%
I entered the How not to surrender competition and I won hands down. Bennett Arron -29%
Nationwide must have looked pretty silly when they opened their first branch. William Stone - 28%
My grandma describes herself as being in her twilight years which I love because theyre great films. Daniel Foxx - 26%
Lorna Rose Treen, a London based comedian, writer, and actor, originally from Redditch, has won numerous awards for her creative one liners. Lorna became the first ever double award winner at the Funny Women Awards in 2022, then went on to win Chortles coveted Best Newcomer Award in early 2023.
At the Edinburgh Fringe 2023, Lorna is debuting at The Pleasance Courtyard with her nonsensical escapist character show - SKIN PIGEON - throughout the month, until 27th August.
Speaking about her joke claiming the top spot, Lorna said:
I am blooming chuffed to have won Daves best joke of the fringe! Are you kidding! I cant wait to tell my mum! It is already such a wonderful joy to be debuting at the Edinburgh Fringe this year, and this is a lovely thing on top. A huge thank you for awarding my stupid joke with this title!
Now in its fourteenth year, previous winners of the coveted Joke of the Fringe Award include Masai Graham, Ken Cheng, Olaf Falafel, Tim Vine, Rob Auton, Stewart Francis, Zoe Lyons and Nick Helm.
Recognising comics both established and up-and-coming, the Joke of the Fringe award celebrates the art of joke writing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and acknowledges the talent it requires to create knee-slapping one-liners. To ensure that there is no bias towards well-known or household name comedians during the public vote, the jokes are listed with no reference to the comedian that wrote and performed them - meaning it is purely judged on the humour of the jokes themselves.
Cherie Hall, Dave channel director, said:
Its that time of year again - Daves Joke of the Fringe - and this year we are thrilled to award Lorna Rose Treens joke with the win. Weve got an amazing mix of jokes and comedians in our Top 10 list this year, the quality of submissions will keep us laughing until next year! This is the 14th year of our sponsorship of the Joke of the Fringe, and Dave remains as committed as ever to showcasing the best in new comedy on the channel. We are really excited for the return of Outsiders and Big Zuus Big Eats in the next few months.
The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the biggest arts festival in the world and takes place every August for three weeks in Scotlands capital city.
2023 marks the fourteenth year of Daves Funniest Joke of the Fringe. New content coming to the channel in the next few months include the return of Outsiders and Big Zuus Big Eats. Find the best of Daves programming on UKTV Play.
-ENDS-
For more information contact: Abi Beaton 07707 810658 or abi.beaton@taylorherring.com at Taylor Herring PR
Notes to editors
The 76th Edinburgh Fringe Festival takes place 4th - 28th August 2023.
The Dave Joke of the Fringe Panel:
Steve Bennett (Editor, Chortle.co.uk)
Mark Boosey (Editor, British Comedy Guide)
Bruce Dessau (Comedy Critic, Evening Standard)
Polly Glynn (Comedy Editor, The Skinny)
Mark Monahan (Arts Editor, Daily Telegraph)
Dominic Maxwell (Comedy Critic, The Times)
James Walker (Journalist, The National)
Brian Logan (Comedy Critic, The Guardian)
Kate Stone (Editor, FunnyWomen.co.uk)
Andrzej Lukowski (Editor & Critic, TimeOut)
The Dave panel each submitted their ten best jokes nominations. These were then put anonymously to a vote of 2,000 Br
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
06/07/2026
Long-developed relationships and informal access, three production models, and c...
06/07/2026
The deal follows Lumine's recent acquisition of Synamedia's video-networ...
06/07/2026
This former SportsCenter producer is shaping local-team studio coverage to surro...
06/07/2026
IMS Productions and FOX Sports deployed more than 100 cameras, 32 onboard feeds,...
06/07/2026
Lumine Group Inc. has announced the completion of its acquisition of the Video Network Business from Synamedia. The business will operate as a standalone compan...
06/07/2026
NASCAR has announced a content and commercial partnership with Motorsport Network, a motorsports and automotive media platform, to distribute NASCAR original co...
06/07/2026
Versant Media Group has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Full Swing, a sports technology company, from Bruin Capital and a group of minority investor...
06/07/2026
DAZN has announced global broadcast rights to 3ICE, a professional hockey format featuring three skaters and a goalkeeper per side, with no power plays or offsi...
06/07/2026
Bundle gains 100 new synths & more
Synth Anthology 5 the largest and most feature-packed edition of UVI's hardware synth emulation bundle, bringing toge...
06/07/2026
Available now via free firmware update
MOTU have just announced that three of their popular audio interfaces now boast official Milan Certification. The 16A...
06/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz completes Hunter Preliminary Design Review for the Integrated Co...
06/07/2026
The R&S IMAGER from Rohde & Schwarz uses millimeter wave imaging to inspect the ...
06/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
06/07/2026
Digital Domain Appoints Industry Veteran Patrick Davenport as Executive Vice Pre...
06/07/2026
Gravity Media USA appoints Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development
Brie Clayton July 6, 2026
0 Comments
The strategic new appointment supports...
06/07/2026
Remote Editing Without Cloud Storage in Resolve
Michael Cioni July 6, 2026
0 Comments
This is a step-by-step guide that demonstrates how to setup your...
06/07/2026
Automatic Caption Translation in Adobe Premiere Pro
Colin Smith July 6, 2026
0 Comments
Here I showcase the innovative automatic caption translation f...
06/07/2026
Flavor's First Ever Managing Director Neal Cohen Retires; Longstanding Execu...
06/07/2026
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Medtech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might think...
06/07/2026
Zhongyi Optics unveils the Dreamy Zone T1 FF Cine Lens Series on Indiegogo with ...
06/07/2026
Techtel debuts insyght: making ST 2110 media discovery easy
intellisphereinsyght2026
6 July Written By Suzanne Costello
Sydney, Australia - 06 July 2026 T...
06/07/2026
Monday 6 July 2026
Sky agrees to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment, creating a ...
06/07/2026
Fresh from his World Cup heroics with Cabo Verde, Roberto Pico' Lopes will join the RT panel for Argentina v Egypt tomorrow and for the England v Norway q...
06/07/2026
Nations have long invested in domestic infrastructure to advance their economies, protect and use their data, and take advantage of technology opportunities in ...
06/07/2026
Every year, the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) reveals where thousands of AI researchers have decided to put their work.
This year's ...
06/07/2026
A death can be unsuspicious, but it has to be explained
What happened to Ke...
05/07/2026
We've gone to another level of integrating the graphics into the set architecture' - Zac Fields, SVP, Graphic Technology and Integration, FOX Sports...
05/07/2026
Browser-based and desktop apps available
Digital Sunset Studios have been busy working on an interesting project: a free software tool that provides compute...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
22nd August 2023 
