New videos celebrate the festival

Comedians speak about the effect Covid-19 has had on comedy, as well as their memories of Edinburgh Fringe in a new series of videos made by Dave.

The clips – compiled below – features winners of the joke of the Fringe the broadcaster has run for 14 years.

This year it was cancelled for the second year running, although enterprising comic Will Mars created the (Some Guy Called) Dave’s joke of the Fringe, asking a member of the public with the right name to pick his favourite gags.

In the new video, Nick Helm aid that Zoom gigs are ‘terrible’ and praised comedians who had the bravery to commit to gigs in car parks during the past 18 months. But Ken Cheng, winner in 2017 admitted that he ‘hated gigging’ so Covid-19 ‘stopping all his gigs was fine’!  

 
Helm also called on comedians to be ‘more creative’ to avoid 3,000 shows on the pandemic next year, believing that next year’s Edinburgh will be ‘absolutely incredible’.

Meanwhile Adele Cliff and Darren Walsh celebrated how Edinburgh is the best opportunity for comedians to showcase their work with Walsh adding he greeted it with a  mixture of dread and excitement. Cheng agreed, saying the Fringe is simultaneously the ‘best and worst thing about doing comedy’.

Tim Vine there is something about Edinburgh that ‘keeps drawing him back’, but reflected on how comedians in the middle of the Fringe sometimes wonder why they do carry on committing to it every year. 
 
The video also covers what Joke of the Fringe meant to the winners and  what makes an award-winning joke.

Cherie Cunningham, Dave channel director, said: ‘We are delighted at all the amazing comedians who have shared their Edinburgh experiences and reflected on the past 18 months for this video. We cannot wait for next year, the 75^th Edinburgh Fringe Festival, when Dave’s Joke of the Fringe will be back bigger than ever before.’

Published: 27 Aug 2021