Dave Award for the Funniest Joke of the Fringe..

Edinburgh, 21^st August 2012: Award-winning TV channel Dave, the home of witty banter, has announced the winner of the fifth annual Dave Award for the Funniest Joke of the Fringe.

In its quest to find the most hilarious jokes and one-liners, Dave enlisted the help of an elite panel of judges, made up of 10 of the UK’s foremost comedy critics.  They probed venues at the world-famous Fringe Festival over a week period to nominate their three favourite jokes.  The 30 shortlisted jokes were then put to the public vote, with 3,000 comedy fans selecting the most amusing.

With over a fifth of the overall votes (20.93%), comedian Stewart Francis takes the top spot and walks away with the hand-crafted Dave trophy and cash prize for his sharp one-liner:

Stewart Francis – “You know who really gives kids a bad name? Posh and Becks.”

The top 10 featured…

Tim Vine – “Last night me and my girlfriend watched three DVDs back to back. Luckily I was the one facing the telly. ”

Will Marsh – “I was raised as an only child, which really annoyed my sister.”

 Rob Beckett – “You know you’re working class when your TV is bigger than your book case.”

 Chris Turner – “I’m good friends with 25 letters of the alphabet… I don’t know why.”

Tim Vine – “I took part in the sun tanning Olympics – I just got Bronze.”

 George Ryegold (performed by Toby Williams) – “Pornography is often frowned upon, but that’s only because I’m concentrating.”

 Stewart Francis – “I saw a documentary on how ships are kept together. Riveting!”

 Lou Sanders – “I waited an hour for my starter so I complained: ‘It’s not rocket salad.”

 Nish Kumar – “My mum’s so pessimistic, that if there was an Olympics for pessimism… she wouldn’t fancy her chances.”

The winning joke is taken from Stewart Francis’s current show, Return of the Lumberjacks, which is on at The Assembly Rooms. The show marks a reunion for Canadian comics, Craig Campbell, Glenn Wool, and Stewart, who made their Edinburgh debut together 15 years ago. Internationally acclaimed stand-up comedian Stewart is famous for his deadpan performances, as displayed in his numerous British TV appearances and tours. Although born in Canada, both of Stewart’s parents are British and he lives in the UK full time with his Scottish wife.

Of his win, Stewart said: “1969 West Mall Soccer Association’s Most Valuable Player, and now this…thank you, Dave.”

In order to compile the shortlist, each of the judges sat through an average of 60 different comedy performances and sifted through more than 3,600 minutes of material. This meant they each had a potential pool of around 7,200* different jokes to choose from.

The Dave award, which is open to both established and up-and-coming comedians, pays homage to the wealth of talent on offer at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe whilst shining a spotlight on the individual jokes, not just the performances.

Steve North, General Manager of Dave commented: “As Dave’s Funniest Joke of the Fringe celebrates its fifth anniversary it’s great to see how the top ten get wittier and sharper every year. Stewart Francis is a very worthy winner and with his droll quip has proved himself to be King of the one-liners.”

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is widely acknowledged to be the biggest arts festival in the world and takes place every August for three weeks in Scotland’s capital city. Starting in 1947, it was seen as a post-war initiative to re-unite Europe through culture, and was so successful that it inspired more performers than there was room for.

For an exclusive interview with Stewart Francis download The Dave Weekly podcast from iTunes. You can also follow Dave on Twitter at @join_dave, Facebook at facebook.com/davewittybanter and via the website at joindave.co.uk.

This year marks the fifth anniversary of Dave’s Funniest Joke of the Fringe.

To review the previous’ winners and highlights, and vote for your favourite overall, visit  http://www.facebook.com/davewittybanter

Press Contact: Taylor Herring PR

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