UKTV’s entertainment channel, U&Dave, has announced the winner of its fifteenth U&Dave’s Funniest Joke of the Fringe Award.
Comedian Mark Simmons was voted the winner with his witty pun:“I was going to sail around the globe in the world’s smallest ship – but I bottled it.”. The joke, taken from his PHB’s Free Fringe show at Liquid Room Annexe, topped the list of funniest of the Fringe with 40% 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, U&Dave recruited an expert panel of acclaimed judges, including some of the leading comedy critics in the UK and fellow comedians.
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.
U&Dave’s Top 5 Funniest Jokes of the Fringe Festival 2024 revealed:
- I was going to sail around the globe in the world’s smallest ship but I bottled it. – Mark Simmons
- I’ve been taking salsa lessons for months, but I just don’t feel like I’m progressing. It’s just one step forward… two steps back. – Alec Snook
- Ate horse at a restaurant once – wasn’t great. Starter was all right but the mane was dreadful. – Alex Kitson
- I sailed through my driving test. That’s why I failed it. – Arthur Smith
- I love the Olympics. My friend and I invented a new type of relay baton: well, he came up with the idea, I ran with it.- Mark Simmons
Having got into comedy after his friend convinced him to do an open mic night, the winner – Mark Simmons – kicked off his solo Edinburgh Fringe journey back in 2014. Since then, Mark’s gags have placed 9th, 6th, and 2nd in U&Dave’s Joke of the Fringe – going on to win it this year.
At the Edinburgh Fringe 2024, Mark is debuting his show More Jokes at Liquid Rooms Annexe – which runs until Saturday 24th August, and he is currently doing a 200 date tour.
“I’m really chuffed to win U&Dave’s Funniest Joke of the Fringe. I needed some good news as I was just fired from my job marking exam papers, can’t understand it, I always gave 110%.” – Comedian Mark Simmons
Now in its fifteenth year, the Joke of the Fringe Award has seen its very first updated trophy following the launch of UKTV’s brand new master brand U last month. Previous winners of the coveted Joke of the Fringe Award include Lorna Rose-Treen, 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.
