NextUp trophy now stands 204cm tall

Voting opens tomorrow for NextUp’s Biggest Award in Comedy, the Edinburgh Fringe prize decided by the streaming platform’s subscribers.

The inflatable gold trophy stands  204cm tall, literally the biggest prize in the business and 1cm taller than last year. The winner will also receive £500 in prize money and the chance to record and release their show as a NextUp comedy special. 

Members are invited to nominate the shows they think deserve recognition. wgucg are combined with recommendations from NextUp’s panel of comedy scouts to produce a longlist of the 20 most-nominated shows, before members cast their final votes to pick a winner.

Last year’s winner, Ayoade Bamgboye, went on to win the Edinburgh Comedy Award for best newcomer before joining the inaugural cast of Saturday Night Live UK.

She said: ‘It’s been one of the greatest honours of my life, I’ll never stop saying thank you to NextUp for inflating the biggest prize I’ve ever received outside the Pleasance bunkers, a core memory that I’ll always cherish, more so because I got to keep it! To the next winner, this is the stuff of dreams, savour it!’

Daniel Berg, co-founder of NextUp, said: ‘While the Edinburgh Fringe simultaneously becomes more expensive and challenging for everyone involved, it’s a true honour to force an exhausted comedian to lug home a 2-metre inflatable award.’

Published: 6 Aug 2026