The ISH* Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2026, now in its fourth year, involves a voluntary panel of judges seeing every eligible comedy show at the Fringe. Yes we are back for 2026, even bigger than before. And before was big...
This year the prizes are £5000 for Best Show and £4000 for Best Newcomer, £5000 for the Panel Prize, £1000 for Best Tech and £1000.01 for the Best Joke. The awards are all sponsored by artists - and back supporting in 2026 are Rhod Gilbert, Elf Lyons, TakeoverRadio 106.9FM, and James Corden. Plus new backers for 2026 include Romesh Ranganathan, Mark Silcox and Sarah Millican.
James Corden says, 'I'm honoured to support the brilliant ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards again.'
New backer for 2026 Sarah Millican, sponsoring the Newcomer Award says "Very happy to help some new funny person kill off a bit of their debt and give them a comedy pat on the back."
Mark Silcox, adding to the backing of Joke of The Fringe this year says: "I'm proud to associate myself with the Joke of the Fringe prize, as a recognised expert in crafting jokes."
And Romesh Ranganathan is backing ISH too this year, 'Absolutely delighted to give the public impression of supporting new talent.' !
* ps We said that ISH stood for Insert Sponsor Here until we have sponsors, we now have sponsors! So it now stands for Industry Standard for Health. Check out the #IBackISH Movement here.
This year the prizes are £5000 for Best Show and £4000 for Best Newcomer, £5000 for the Panel Prize, £1000 for Best Tech and £1000.01 for the Best Joke. The awards are all sponsored by artists - and back supporting in 2026 are Rhod Gilbert, Elf Lyons, TakeoverRadio 106.9FM, and James Corden. Plus new backers for 2026 include Romesh Ranganathan, Mark Silcox and Sarah Millican.
James Corden says, 'I'm honoured to support the brilliant ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards again.'
New backer for 2026 Sarah Millican, sponsoring the Newcomer Award says "Very happy to help some new funny person kill off a bit of their debt and give them a comedy pat on the back."
Mark Silcox, adding to the backing of Joke of The Fringe this year says: "I'm proud to associate myself with the Joke of the Fringe prize, as a recognised expert in crafting jokes."
And Romesh Ranganathan is backing ISH too this year, 'Absolutely delighted to give the public impression of supporting new talent.' !
* ps We said that ISH stood for Insert Sponsor Here until we have sponsors, we now have sponsors! So it now stands for Industry Standard for Health. Check out the #IBackISH Movement here.
Here are photos from last year's ceremony by Steve Best...
The 2026 prizes are...
Best Show £5000 Best Newcomer £4000 Panel Prize £5000 Best Tech £1000 Best Joke £1000.01 
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LATEST NEWS
06.08.26 - ISH Awards announces Record Prize Fund - Beyond The Joke 06.08.26 - ISH Awards to be worth £16,000 - Chortle 14.07.26 'The Edinburgh Fringe isn't a meritocracy - and it's time we fixed it' British Comedy Guide Feature 18.06.26 - Romesh Ranganathan backs ISH Chortle 18.06.26 - Romesh Ranganathan backs ISH Beyond The Joke 11.06.26 - Sarah Millican backs the ISH Beyond The Joke 11.06.26 - Sarah Millican backs the ISH Chortle 21.04.26 - Joke of the Fringe Award Beyond The Joke 20.04.26 - Edinburgh Comedy Awards return The Herald 17.04.26 -ISH Awards backers 2026 Beyond The Joke 17.04.26 -James Corden backs Awards again Chortle 23.08.25 - 2025 Winners announced here 23.08.25 - 2025 Winners announced in The Scotsman 20.08.25 - 2025 Best Jokes of the Fringe in The Scotsman 20.08.25 - Short Lists announced here 20.08.25 - Chortle on the shortlist 20.08.25 - British Comedy Guide on the shortlist 20.08.25 - Beyond The Joke on the shortlist 15.08.25 - Long Lists announced here 15.08.25 - British Comedy Guide on 2025 long-lists 30.07.25 - The Scotsman on Joke Of The Fringe 30.07.25 - Chortle on our new Sponsors 30.07.25 - BeyondTheJoke on our new Sponsors 08.07.25 - Wee Review on new Tech ISH Award 08.07.25 - BeyondTheJoke on new ISH Award 08.07.25 - JokePit on new ISH Award 07.07.25 - New Award 'The Lyons Award for Tech' Chortle 14.05.24 - Showcases announced for 2025 edfringe.com 21.08.24 - ISH Awards Announces Short-Lists Scotsman 16.08.24 - ISH Awards Announces Long-Lists Chortle 16.08.24 - ISH Awards Announces Long-Lists BCG 16.08.24 - ISH Awards Announces Long-Lists Beyond The Joke 30.07.24 - ISH Awards new sponsor - British Comedy Guide 08.04.24 - ISH Awards sponsor, Jones Bootmaker (website) 28.09.23 ISH Awards Producer wins Funny Women Award 
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We are a collective of people that love the Edinburgh Fringe and wanted to run an Edinburgh Comedy Awards through volunteers with 100% of sponsorship going to the artists. There will be around 30 panel members and a few support people, answering emails and allocating shows, and we're all doing it for free! Find out how the awards will be judged here and if you want to get involved as a Panel Judge please contact us.
ISH News...
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2025 news...
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Previous years news... (for more see the PRESS section)
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