John Robins' uplifting speech at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards

John Robins today presented this year’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards along with last year’s winner, Sam Campbell. His opening address had the industry crowd roaring with laughter, before making a sincere and uplifting comment for all those who have been taking part in this year’s Fringe. Here’s the speech in full..

Hello everyone, why am I here today? Is it because a higher profile act pulled out at short notice? No. Is it because I'm being paid? No… as it turns out. Why then? Because this award matters

I won in 2017 jointly with Hannah Gadsby, and it remains a source of enormous pride. But what does winning this award mean? In a word: success. Since 2017 Hannah and I have gone on to great things, and just as we shared the award so we share our successes:

We've won an Emmy;

We've presented an internet search-based quiz show on UK digital channel Dave. that ran for ten episodes (no one wants a quiz show that runs and runs and runs, you get in and you get out, you get in and you get out);

We've appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon;

We've provided the voiceover for Cadbury's Caramilk;

We've had a New York Times bestseller entitled Ten Steps to Nanette,

And we've featured in branded content for Esso alongside Phil Tuffnell. #EssoLiftShare

If you don't think this award matters, then consider how it can open doors in the corporate world. Just ask to Mike Summers from IMG International who said, and I quote, ‘John hosted the evening with a relaxed style, providing much needed humour even if his interaction with the CEO was misjudged.’

Listen, I'm here because I know what it's like to win this award, but it is incumbent upon me to say that more than that I know what it's like not to. I was nominated for my eighth show, 12 years after first coming here to perform. I know what it's like when the phone doesn't ring, when your agent says there's always next year, when you find yourself asking: ‘What’s the point?"’

Well, having scaled the dizzy hights of both Emmy and Caramilk, I can tell you that the point is that we're all here to create things that never existed before. Not just performers but agents, directors, producers, technical staff, volunteers and flyerers. We're here to begin things. And there is so much power in that.

We're here to communicate our experiences, our feelings and ideas. To subject ourselves to a level of creative pressure and critical examination that we cannot find anywhere else on earth. Where else can you look out, as I did in 2009, to see an audience consisting entirely of [Chortle reviewer] Steve Bennett, a member of the awards panel and a German family sheltering from the rain.

We are here to make people laugh. And, nominated or no,  if this award pushes us all that little bit harder, if it makes us set a slightly higher standard, if it makes us ask a little bit more of ourselves. Then that's why it matters.

But I would say to every single person giving of themselves this month. Life is long, and this is not the finish line, this is the starter's pistol. If I could zoom out and see your entire careers what wonders we would see! Unexpected, unplanned, unimaginable opportunities that came about through chance and coincidence all because you decided to create something. To begin. That's the point.

We are part of a creative community that strives for excellence. Whether it's the sell-out toast of the fringe, or a man standing outside The Scottish Parliament on a box, doing all he can to avoid the aching chasm of sadness at the centre of his being.

And the greatest source of pride for me over the last 20 years is to be just a speck in that incredible landscape with you all.

• Sam Campbell  also said a few words, but they’re too libellous to print…

• John Robins’ new tour Howl kicks off in Norwich on September 13. Dates

Published: 26 Aug 2023