Comic donates £5,000 to Edinburgh Fringe best show

Romesh Ranganathan is donating £5,000 to this year's ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards, organisers have announced.

The money will go towards the prize for best show, with will carry his name as sponsor.

Ranganathan said he was ‘absolutely delighted to give the public impression of supporting new talent'.

It had previously been announced that the accolade would be named in honour of James Corden,  who is also backing the awards for the second year running. However, organisers have now said they have not decided how exactly his contribution will be allocated. 

The ISH awards, whose initials stand for 'insert sponsor here', were set up in 2023 by the comedian Nathan Cassidy as a volunteer-run alternative to the long-established Edinburgh Comedy Awards at a time when that prize looked at risk of losing its sponsorship.

Cassidy said: 'I am incredibly happy to have the brilliant Romesh backing the ISH this year, it means the world.  As with all the other backers, and everyone that supports what we're doing, it's the fuel that keeps me and the team going. These awards have tapped into something many in comedy already feel: there is huge talent across the piece that isn't being fairly rewarded - financially, critically, or structurally.'

The announcement follows news last week that Sarah Millican is funding this year's £4,000 best newcomer prize, having won the same category in the main comedy awards. She said: 'Very happy to help some new funny person kill off a bit of their debt and give them a comedy pat on the back.'

Rhod Gilbert, Elf Lyons, Takeover Radio 106.9FM are also adding to the prize fund, although it has not yet been said which categories each will be associated with. They previously backed the panel prize, an award for best tech, and the ‘joke of the Fringe’ category respectively.

Cassidy and his co-producer Sarah Bowles have not said how big this year's total prize fund will be, only that it will be bigger than last year’s total of £12,500.01. 

Bowles said: 'We are overwhelmed with the backing this year and can't thank Romesh enough. We're particularly proud of our winners so far, who have come from many venues and many different backgrounds.' 

Paul Foot, Julia Masli, Elf Lyons, Mark Forward and Phil Ellis have previously won the best show prize.

Published: 18 Jun 2026