THE PRESTIGIOUS DAVE'S EDINBURGH COMEDY AWARDS ARE BACK AND CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF COMEDY GENIUS

30th June 2022 DAVES EDINBURGH COMEDY AWARDS will return at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year. After a two-year worldwide hiatus, the renowned Daves Edinburgh Comedy Awards are back celebrating 40 years of awarding comedy excellence, reflecting the rich heritage of comedy talent recognised and its status as a springboard for comedians who have gone on to become household names at home and abroad. UKTVs award winning entertainment channel Dave also returns as proud sponsor of the Awards this August.

Nica Burns, longstanding Producer & Director of Daves Edinburgh Comedy Awards, said,

We are so glad to finally be back celebrating the very best of British comedy with four decades of talent alongside our partner Dave, the home of comedy and entertainment TV. With a rich 40-year history, Daves Edinburgh Comedy Awards have shone the spotlight on the next generation of comedians and championed comedy as a vital sector of the entertainment industry. Our winners and nominees can be constantly seen and heard across all media channels, they cross over into dramatic roles and write, act and make movies. Were looking forward to a bumper year of exciting, outstanding comedy talent.

The inaugural Comedy Award winners were The Cambridge Footlights in 1981, whose line-up included Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and Emma Thompson. Other winners whose careers have soared since carrying off the awards range from the late Sean Hughes, still the youngest ever winner at age 24, to Rose Matafeo, Hannah Gadsby, Bridget Christie, Russell Kane, Richard Ayoade, Al Murray, The League of Gentlemen, Dylan Moran, Jenny Eclair, Harry Hill, Lee Evans, Steve Coogan and Frank Skinner.

Our 2019 winners, Jordan Brookes and Catherine Cohen have had a busy couple of years. Brookes has taken his acclaimed Edinburgh show around the UK and beyond, hosted his own BBC Radio 4 series Jordan Brookes on..., has made a pilot for Channel 4 and recently launched a brand new podcast with Dave, Look At What Youve Done. Meanwhile American Catherine Cohen co-hosts the popular podcast Seek Treatment whilst her debut one-hour comedy special The Twist? Shes Gorgeous is now streaming on Netflix.

Past nominees include James Acaster, Nish Kumar, Sara Pascoe, Romesh Ranganathan, Darren Harriott, Ivo Graham, Lucy Beaumont, London Hughes, Mae Martin, Sophie Willan, Seann Walsh, Greg Davies, Sarah Millican, John Bishop, Russell Howard, Chris Addison, Reginald D Hunter, Adam Hills, Jimmy Carr, Omid Djalili, Noel Fielding, Sean Lock, Lee Mack, Peter Kay, Graham Norton, Bill Bailey and Eddie Izzard.

Dave has a well-established passion for supporting fresh comedy, and with a growing slate of UKTV Originals, the channel prides itself on supporting new talent and bringing in young audiences. Original comedy programming attracting an over 25% or more 16-34 audience profile include Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable, BAFTA-winning Big Zuus Big Eats and Josh Widdicombe and James Acasters Hypothetical.

Cherie Cunningham, Channel Director for Dave, said,

Here at Dave we are so passionate about comedy, and nowhere does it better than the Edinburgh Comedy Awards. Its a real source of pride that so many previous winners and nominees are making and appearing in UKTV Original comedy shows on Dave, and Im sure that after a few years away, 2022s Awards are going to be an excellent edition full of truly exciting acts.

A full history of the winners and nominees, eligibility rules and all other details about the Awards can be found at: www.comedyawards.co.uk

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For Daves Edinburgh Comedy Awards please contact Multitude Media:

Anya Noakes, Senior Publicist: anya.noakes@multitudemedia.co.uk / 07973 363341

Charlotte Prentice, Publicity Manager: charlotte.prentice@multitudemedia.co.uk / 07969 959037

Will Wood, Managing Director: will.wood@multitudemedia.co.uk / 07817 014515

For UKTV and Dave please contact: Ben Duncan, Consumer Publicity Manager

Notes for Editors:

Dave programme stats are premiere runs, 7-day consolidated. Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable S1, Big Zuus Big Eats S1/S2, Hypothetical S2/S3

About Dave:

Dave is the award-winning entertainment channel home to a veritable feast of UKTV Original comedy hits from some of the biggest stars in the UK. Comedy entertainment shows like BAFTA-winning Big Zuus Big Eats, Outsiders, Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable, Hypothetical, Comedians Giving Lectures, Question Team, Late Night Mash, Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled, The Island and British As Folk sit alongside scripted comedies such as Meet The Richardsons and Red Dwarf.

But Dave isnt just restricted to television screens. Theres exclusive online content, with YouTubes Big Zuus Wrap Clash and Who Cares? With Amelia Dimoldenberg, as well as Facebook series The Comedy Guide To Life, Bad Advice with Olga Koch and BackChat. Daves partnership with CALM has led to exclusive commissions and innovative online and marketing campaigns such as #BeTheMateYoudWant. Dave is the proud sponsor of Daves Edinburgh Comedy Awards and also crowns its yearly Joke Of The Edinburgh Fringe every August.

dave.uktv.co.uk / @davechannel

About The Comedy Awards and Nica Burns

Established in 1981, the Awards contest for the comedy crowns of Best Comedy Show and Best Newcomer has been dubbed The Oscars of Comedy and has made headline news at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for four decades.

Longstanding Awards Director, Nica Burns OBE is the multi-award-winning producer of over 100 productions. She was Artistic Director at the Donmar Warehouse from 1983 to 1989 and Production Director of Stoll Moss and Really Useful Theatres from 1993 to 2005. She founded Nimax Theatres in 2005 and is Chief Executive and co-owner of the Palace, Lyric, Apollo, Garrick, Vaudeville and Duchess Theatres in Londons West End. Working with her development partners Derwent London Ltd and Crossrail, she is building a new theatre on

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