It may not float everyone’s boat, but a joke about circumnavigating the globe in a tiny ship has been named funniest at the Fringe.
Comedian Mark Simmons picked up the annual award for the first time with his gag: ‘I was going to sail around the globe in the world’s smallest ship but I bottled it.’
Organised by television channel U&Dave, the Funniest Joke Of The Fringe award celebrates ‘the art of joke writing’ and making people laugh.
Now in its fifteenth year, the award’s winning jokes often prompt more groans than belly laughs.
But Simmons’s effort was the runaway winner in a public vote on a shortlist of 15 one-liners selected by a judging panel of some of the UK’s leading British comedy critics and comedians.
Mark Simmons picked up the annual award for his joke about sailing.
The panellists attended hundreds of shows during the Fringe, listening out for jokes which make them laugh, then submitted their favourites in an anonymous shortlist to prevent any bias towards household names.
A public vote involving 2,000 people was then held, with Simmons – whose joke was taken from his PHB’s Free Fringe show at Liquid Room Annexe – winning the competition with 40 per cent of the vote.
His victory comes a decade after Simmons first performed at the Fringe as a solo act, when his friend convinced him to do an open mic night. Since then, his gags have placed 9th, 6th and 2nd in the Fringe’s joke award. This year, as well as winning the competition, Simmons had another joke feature in the shortlist.
Simmons said: ‘I’m really chuffed to win U&Dave’s Funniest Joke Of The Fringe. I needed some good news as I was just fired from my job marking exam papers, can’t understand it, I always gave 110 per cent.’
Mr Simmons said he was ‘chuffed’ to win the highly-coveted award.
He is debuting his show More Jokes at Liquid Rooms Annexe until Saturday [AUG 24], and he is currently also performing a 200-date UK tour.
Previous winners of the award include Lorna Rose-Treen, Masai Graham, Ken Cheng, Olaf Falafel, Tim Vine, Rob Auton, Stewart Francis, Zoe Lyons and Nick Helm.
Cherie Hall, U&Dave channel director, said this year’s shortlist ‘features a hilarious blend of jokes that are sure to keep us laughing until the next Joke Of The Fringe.
‘With the Joke Of The Fringe now in its 15th year, U&Dave is still committed to supporting great comedy and brilliant gags.’