Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023: 5 Edinburgh Comedy Award winners returning to Scotland's capital in August

This week saw the release of the programme for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, with a huge 3,013 shows to choose from.

If that sounds like a bit too much choice, then there’s something to be said for opting for performers who have a winning record – and there’s no bigger prize in British comedy than the Edinburgh Comedy Award.

Originally called the Perrier Award, it was first held in 1981, when a group of Cambridge students including Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Tony Slattery and Emma Thompson, took home the prize.

Since then it’s launched the comedy careers of everybody from Steve Coogan to The League of Gentlemen – and these five winners returning in 2023.

Frank Skinner will be returning to Edinburgh this year more than 20 years after lifting the Perrier Award.

Frank Skinner (Assembly George Square)

Beating a starry shortlist including Jack Dee, Eddie Izzard, and Lily Savage to the prize in 1991, the former Fantasy Football League host was scheduled to bring new show ‘30 Years of Dirt’ to Edinburgh last year. That run was cancelled at the last minute, but fans will now finally get the chance to see what Skinner has planned.

Daniel Kitson (Summerhall)

Widely considered the finest stand-up of his generation, Daniel Kitson was nominated for his Edinburgh debut in 2001, before winning with sophomore show ‘Something’. His monologue ‘It’s Always Right Now Until It’s Later’ was the best reviewed show of the Edinburgh Festivals in 2010, and now he's back with a work in progress called ‘First Thing’.

Rose Matafeo (Monkey Barrel)

Since winning the Edinburgh Comedy Award in 2018, multi-talented Rose Matafeo has gone on to create and star in hit sitcom Starstruck. She is returning to Edinburgh for a Work in Progress show at the Monkey Barrel, although you’ll need to be up early – it’s on at 11:20am.

John Robins (Just The Tonic)

Break-up show ‘The Darkness of Robins’ earned the stand-up and podcaster a share of the main prize in 2017 – alongside now-global star Hannah Gadsby. He’s back this year with not one, but two new shows – a work in progress and ‘Howl’.

John Kearns (Monkey Barrel)

The first performer to win both the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer and the Main Prize (in 2013 and 2014 respectively), John Kearns’ act defies explanation, but his recent hilarious appearance in Taskmaster has earned him an army of new fans.