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Edinburgh new act competition results Australian comedian Joshua Khoury has been named as winner of the 39th edition of the So You Think You’re Funny? comedy newcomer competition. Bobby Jethro came in second place, with Lucas Jones Ho and Sarah Lewis taking joint third. They took their titles at the Gilded Balloon in Edinburgh tonight.

Edinburgh Fringe comedy review If you were listing the identities that go into a typical Fringe comedian, Steffan Alun might have a full house: bisexual, a bit of nerd, possibly autistic… Advisedly, he’s not followed the herd in placing identity at the heart of his sophomore show, even if his themes – which are very lightly applied – include the fact we can never see ourselves as others see us, and the need to find somewhere where we can be accepted for who we are.

Find Live comedy Add a listing Live Comedy in London | Manchester | Scotland © Prime Video Ten more comedians enter the room The ten comedians taking part in the third series of Last One Laughing have been named. They are Lee Mack, Katherine Ryan, Harry Hill, Katherine Parkinson, Michelle de Swarte, Jon Richardson, Morgana Robinson and  Josh Jones plus the return of Richard Ayoade, who narrowly lost the trophy to Bob Mortimer in the first series.

Edinburgh Fringe comedy review Geordie sketch quintet Metroland Live return to the Fringe this year, following up their 2024 debut The Box, inexplicably a Marmite proposition for the reviewing classes but one which generated some buzz at the beginning of that festival. Their follow-up As Seen on TV is more of the same – disparate, hit or miss sketches, this time themed around TV. When they hit, they knock you spark out; when they miss, it’s sometimes difficult to see what they were aiming for.

Edinburgh Fringe comedy review File this one under ‘only at the Fringe’ experiences. Using the relaxing sounds of ASMR, Yogie Belle creates an absorbing, hypnotic, low-key, low-volume soundscape, underpinning a journey of gentle absurdity. Dressed like a druid from a post-technological apocalypse, Belle is calm and welcoming, lulling us with his strange cadences.

Edinburgh Fringe comedy review Three years on from his comedy award win for Ends Ahir Shah has crafted another verbose and emotional hour that twists the historical, the personal and the political into an airtight knot, catering well to the narrative complexity heads but leaving little room for laughter or spontaneity. Of the many topics he pulls together here, two stand out.

Eight episodes for Taskmaster spin-off Channel 4 has commissioned a series of Alex Horne’s Taskmaster spin-off Your Time Starts Now, following a successful pilot. Eight hour-long episodes of the gameshow – which features teams taking on challenges at home – have now been ordered from programme-makers Avalon. The tasks are said to require a combination of ‘creativity, lateral thinking, speed, some general knowledge and teamwork’.

Edinburgh Fringe comedy review On getting engaged, a dancer in a sleazy club vows to become the best stepmom she can be… until a dutiful drive to hockey practice turns into a Tarantinoesque orgy of blood-soaked gun violence. Such is the premise of Matt Klein’s playful late-night clown show in the bowels of Banshee Labyrinth, full of over-the-top nonsense but performed with vulnerable likeability and a (relatively) controlled performance.

Edinburgh Fringe comedy review A lot like a classic Pixar movie, Zoe Wohlfeld’s clowning show Dog Funeral begins in tragedy, explained to us via a short film about a sweet relationship between a girl and her dog that comes to an abrupt end when the dog eats a whole chocolate cake. Wohlfeld’s hour takes place in the aftermath of that event, cleverly using the performance of grief as an access point for her most childish and petulant instincts.

Enormous trophy for the creator of Basil Crumbwick Sam Eley has won the 2.04m tall biggest award in comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe. The comedian, performing under a papier mâché head in character as Basil Crumbwick took the enormous inflatable trophy handed out by streaming service  NextUp. ‘What an honour!’ he said. ‘I brought my weird little show to the Fringe, hoping to find a small collection of nutters who liked it, but I never expected to reach so many people.