£5,000 for one Edinburgh show

The Fringe has long overshadowed the international festival simply in terms of the sheer number of shows on offer, as well as press attention to the comedy show – while its more established counterpart has enjoyed more artistic prestige.

And now, to combat the 'rivalry', the new award will allow one show – which could be a comedian – to appear with alongside that elite.

The new Edinburgh International Festival Award is a joint initiative between the Fringe and the international festival, and will run for at least three years.

A team of scouts will scour the Fringe for potential award winners from any discipline, including stand-up

New international festival director Jonathan Mills told Glasgow's Sunday Herald: 'I want to be very clear that we are not a festival that walks away from comedy.'

But he added: 'It's probably true that if we were going to pick a genre that's less likely to be an award recipient, it's stand-up.

'However, look at Woody Allen. He was a stand-up. So I can imagine a scenario where you're not giving the award because the person is a stand-up but because of the virtuosity of their writing. That's an example of how lateral we're prepared to be.’

Outgoing fringe director Paul Gudgin pointed to Daniel Kitson, pictured, as an example of a comedian who 'had made the jump from stand-up to serious writer' with storytelling shows such as last year's Traverse Theatre show, C-90

Published: 3 Jun 2007