Charlotte Foster
International Travel

Funniest joke of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival crowned

The funniest joke of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival has been crowned, with the top ten hilarious quips also receiving honourable mentions. 

Thousands of performers flock to Scotland's capital each year to entertain and delight crowds at the Fringe in all areas of the arts, including live comedy. 

For the last 15 years, British entertainment channel U&Dave, owned by British broadcaster UKTV, has handed out the "Funniest Joke of the Fringe Award" by popular vote. 

Despite coming up against fierce competition, comedian Mark Simmons won with his joke, "I was going to sail around the globe in the world's smallest ship but I bottled it."

A panel that included leading UK comedy critics and comedians attended hundreds of shows across the festival and submitted their 10 top jokes, before a shortlist of gags were anonymised was presented to 2,000 members of the British public to vote on the one that evoked the most laughter.

Upon winning the prestigious award, Simmons, who was at the Fringe celebrating his 10 year anniversary as a stand-up comedian, 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%."

Check out the list of the top ten jokes from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as voted by the public below. 

1. "I was going to sail around the globe in the world's smallest ship but I bottled it." Mark Simmons

2. "I've been taking salsa lessons for months, but I just don't feel like I'm progressing. It's just one step forward… two steps back." Alec Snook

3. "Ate horse at a restaurant once - wasn't great. Starter was all right but the mane was dreadful." Alex Kitson

4. "I sailed through my driving test. That's why I failed it." Arthur Smith

5. "I love the Olympics. My friend and I invented a new type of relay baton: well, he came up with the idea, I ran with it." Mark Simmons

6. "My dad used to say to me 'Pints, gallons, liters' – which, I think, speaks volumes." Olaf Falafel

7. "British etiquette is confusing. Why is it highbrow to look at boobs in an art gallery but lowbrow when I get them out in Spoons?" Chelsea Birkby

8. "I wanted to know which came first the chicken or the egg so I bought a chicken and then I bought an egg and I think I've cracked it." Masai Graham

9. "My partner told me that she'd never seen the film Gaslight. I told her that she definitely had." Zoë Coombs Marr

10. "The conspiracy theory about the moon being made of cheese was started by the hallouminati." Olaf Falafel

Image credits: Instagram 

Tags:
international travel, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, comedy, joke