Elf Lyons show Horses, a beautiful paean to childhood in which she personifies an imaginary horse has won the ISH Award for Best Show,
Abby Ambaugh, with her deconstructed comedy The First 3 Minutes of 17 Shows won the award for Best Newcomer.
Joint winners of the Panel Prize were, Alex Petty of Laughing Horse, champions of working class comics Best In Class and the Funny Women Glitter Project as well as comic Elaine Robertson, who spent the entire festival camping to cut costs.
Each prize is £5,000 and a year’s supply of shoes from sponsors Jones Bootmaker. The Panel Prize was split equally between the five Winners. The Awards are run by volunteers who saw every eligible show at the Fringe (around 700 shows).
Head judge Sarah Bowles congratulated the winners – but reminded them that comedy is subjective and the Fringe thrives on word of mouth recommendations. “It’s just our panel of judges’ opinions and much depends on luck with these things when shows were seen, and at the end of the day you will hear much better from the streets and word of mouth what to see, always listen to the streets rather than awards!.”
