5 d. ago Edinburgh Comedy award winner Sam Nicoresti: ‘Actually, this whole show is a monumental failure!’

The comic was determined to make a blockbuster standup show that didn’t address trans issues. Then she changed her mind – and scooped comedy’s biggest prizeThere’s efficiency, then there’s the process that led to Sam Nicoresti winning the most prestigious award in live comedy. “A year ago my girlfriend asked me to marry her,” says Nicoresti on accepting the £10,000 prize last weekend. “[When] we were talking about how to pay for the wedding, I joked and said, ‘It’s easy, I’ll just win the Edinburgh comedy award’.” Can it be true? Is Nicoresti not only the first transgender winner of the so-called Oscars of comedy, but the first ever to manifest victory by force of strategic will?“It’s amazing what you can do,” she grins, three days after her triumph, “if you set your mind to something.” And that’s what Nicoresti has done in the last 12 months, turning around a niche career in alt-comedy, pointing it towards stardom, and pressing her pedal to the metal. Her winning show Baby Doomer w...

Events

7 d. ago Edinburgh Festival Fringe Awards 2025: Here are all the shows that won prizes this August

There are no shortage of prizes on offer at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe - here’s who won them this year.

Events

9 d. ago Trans woman scoops award for Best Comedy Show at the Edinburgh Fringe

The show Baby Doomer explores life as a trans woman and won the Taffner Family best comedy show prize at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards.

Events

9 d. ago First trans woman wins at Edinburgh Fringe as 'burgeoning trans icon' scoops prize

Sam Nicoresti was described as "a fresh, bright voice that we need in 2025".

Politics

9 d. ago Show on life as trans woman scoops best comedy show award at Edinburgh Fringe

Sam Nicoresti’s Baby Doomer show won the Taffner Family best comedy show prize.

Events

9 d. ago Sam Nicoresti’s Baby Doomer wins best comedy show award at Edinburgh fringe 2025

Playful set about Nicoresti’s life as a trans woman wins main award, with Ayoade Bamgboye named best newcomerThe Edinburgh comedy award, the annual “Oscar of comedy” given to the best show at the fringe, has been won by Sam Nicoresti for Baby Doomer, which is based around a humiliating experience in a department store changing room.The Birmingham standup becomes the first transgender winner of the prestigious award after near-misses for Jordan Gray in 2022 – and Eddie Izzard 34 years ago. Nicoresti pockets £10,000 in prize money and, on accepting the award, joked they had promised their partner the win a year ago to help pay for their upcoming wedding. Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Edinburgh Fringe has become 'behemoth of industry', comedy award winner Sam Nicoresti says

Nicoresti said the Fringe had “changed fundamentally”

Events

9 d. ago The Scotsman Fringe First awards: The best photos from Fringe First awards as final four winners revealed

The ceremony featured special guest presenter Miriam Margolyes

Sport

1 week ago Scotsman Fringe First awards: our final four winners of 2025 revealed

Our prizes for outstanding new writing premiered at the Fringe are announced each Friday during August - today we reveal our final week of winners.

Sport

1 week ago Sir Lenny Henry recalls bold move that changed his life as he receives award

Sir Lenny Henry revealed that skipping school to go for an audition is what led to his showbiz career as he received a major award at the Edinburgh TV festival

Events

1 week ago Funniest Jokes of the Fringe 2025: Here are the 19 best jokes told in Edinburgh this year

These are the jokes that have had audiences rolling in the aisles this August.

Politics

1 week ago Australian breakdancer Raygun is lampooned in a new musical but the Olympics fiasco was no comedy | Lyndsey Winship

Rachael Gunn’s disastrous summer at the Paris Games in 2024 has inspired a silly show about ‘Spraygun’ but its jibes are unfairEveryone can have a bad day at the office. But for most of us, it doesn’t take place in front of millions of viewers at the world’s biggest sporting event. Such was the lot of Rachael Gunn, AKA B-girl Raygun, who scored a memorable nul points for Australia at the Paris Olympics in 2024 with her routine topped off with a kangaroo hop. Gunn was pilloried on social media, partly over the quality of her dance (more on that later), but mostly just the usual sexist guff directed at any woman in the public eye deemed to be in the wrong. A year later, the pile-on continues: this time in musical theatre form at Breaking the Musical, an Edinburgh fringe comedy that is either a funny bit of bants or a cruel character assassination, depending on your point of view. The cardinal sin Gunn appears to have committed in Aussie comedian and writer Steph Broadbridge’s eyes is ...

Culture

1 week ago Edinburgh launch of new children’s book: Latest in popular series by award

Meet the award-winning author behind a popular children’s book series as she launches new Eamonn the Bat in Scotland.

Culture

1 week ago The 'original' and 'distinctive' climate change musical winner of Edinburgh Festival Fringe writing award

Hot Mess has won the Popcorn Writing Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Events

1 week ago Edinburgh Comedy Award: Here are the 14 most famous winners in the prize's 45 year history

As we prepare to hear who as won ‘the comedy Oscars’ this year, we’re taking a look at the stars of the past.

Events

1 week ago Edinburgh Comedy Award 2025: Eligibility, prize money, judges, when are the shortlists and winners announced?

Happy 45th birthday to the Oscars of comedy.

Events

2 w. ago Edinburgh Comedy Award 2025 Predictions: Here are 16 acts we're tipping to make the shortlists

It’ll soon be time to crown the king or queen of comedy at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Events

2 w. ago Four Star Comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe 2025: 17 acclaimed shows you can still get tickets to see this weekend

Looking for some comedy at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this weekend? We’ve got you covered.

Sport

2 w. ago Creeps, legends, witches and wonders: Edinburgh fringe 2025 – in pictures

From a Polish prince of Denmark to pickled vegetables and tributes to Billy Connolly and Marilyn Monroe, our photographer explores the many worlds of the festival Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago My Festival – Lorna Rose Treen: 'I play everything from a trucker to a personal detective'

Character comedian Lorna Rose Treen is bringing a surreal show to the Fringe in 2025. We caught up with her to chat all things comedy and Fringe.

Politics