Leader comment: Did you hear the one about'¦

It is exciting to see that nominations for the key comedy awards at Edinburgh Festival Fringe reflect gender equality this year for the first time in their history.

Jenny Eclair is one of only three solo female winners of the annual fringe festival comedy award. This year, a record four out of nine nominees are female.

Achieving virtual parity is remarkable when you look back at the almost exclusively male shortlists of the past – only three solo female acts have scooped the prestigious best comedy show gong in more than three decades. And the previous record number of females shortlisted was just two – which happened only twice.

It’s encouraging to hear women are more confident than ever before and an increasing number are trying stand-up. But let’s not get carried away with the figures.

There might be near parity in nominations, but still only a fifth of the eligible shows for the awards featured female solo comics this year.

Success might be building, but for now it seems women are still reluctant. Hopefully these latest contenders will encourage others to follow. After all, the nomination ratio suggests the fairer sex are punching above their weight when it comes to providing laughs.