Nica Burns the director of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards has announced the judging panel for the 2018 Awards, which is now in its 38th year!
As usual the panel is made up of seven professionals and three comedy fans representing the public. This year’s panel is to be chaired by the Sunday Times’ comedy critic Stephen Armstrong.
Making up the rest of the panel are:
Gayle Anderson – Arts Writer and Herald comedy critic
Jane Dempsey – Public Panellist
Joe Gardner – Public Panellist
Morwenna Gordon – Commissioning editor, Sky Comedy
Richard Morris – Producer, BBC Studios Comedy
Sarah Asante – Assistant commissioner, BBC Comedy
Saurabh Kakkar – Executive producer, Big Talk Productions
Tashi Radha – Public Panellist
Tristram Fane Saunders – Commissioning editor and culture writer, The Telegraph
Nica Burns said: “Comedy remains the largest genre of entertainment at 35% of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe programme, promising a feast of comedy shows to suit everyone’s funny bone. With nearly 700 shows eligible for the 2018 Edinburgh Comedy Awards, we look forward to discovering exciting new talent and celebrating outstanding shows from the established comics. A warm welcome to what will be a very hard working judging panel chaired by Stephen Armstrong, Comedy Critic of the Sunday Times.”
The shortlist is due to be announced on Wednesday 22nd August with the winners announced at a lunchtime ceremony on Saturday 25th August. The prize money for best comedy show is £10,000 with £5,000 each for the Best Newcomer and the Panel Prize winner.
