“I had a job drilling holes for water – it was well boring” – the top 10 jokes of the Edinburgh Fringe
UKTV channel Dave has awarded their annual prize for best gag to comedian Adam Rowe
Every year the Edinburgh Fringe Festival rolls around, bringing thousands of comedy, theatre, dance, cabaret and spoken word acts to the Scottish city while simultaneously doubling its weight by the sheer number of discarded flyers on the ground.
And following close behind, every year also sees TV channel Dave picking out the best one-liners and traditional jokes for their top 10 list, with the broadcaster collecting the traditional stand-up acts available at the festival (using a panel of comedy critics) to find the very best gags, before submitting them anonymously to a panel including 2000 members of the public.
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Now, this year’s winner has been found – and it’s comedian Adam Rowe taking the elephant-shaped prize for a joke in his show Undeniable, aka this very joke here:
“Working at the JobCentre has to be a tense job - knowing that if you get fired, you still have to come in the next day.”
And following the win, Rowe said he was delighted to have one of his favourite lines from his act so honoured.
"I'm absolutely over the moon and quite blown away by this!” he said.
“It's my favourite joke in the show, as it ends the bit I'm most passionate about; trying to dispel a few myths of what it's like to be brought up on benefits. It's such a huge honour, I really never expected to be in with a shout of winning things like this, so it's just a massive but lovely surprise. Thank you very much!"
"This year, the news agenda and every day British idiosyncrasies have provided some wonderful opportunities for comedians to use their creative and comic genius in giving us all a giggle,” added Dave channel director Luke Hales.
“As ever, we have enjoyed some quite brilliant one-liners and are delighted to crown Adam Rowe as the recipient of this year's Dave's Funniest Joke of the Fringe Award!"
Of course, given that so much of the comedy at the Fringe isn’t based in traditional stand-up, this isn’t exactly a representative look at what the festival has to offer – in fact, even the best stand-up shows might not always rely on showstopping zingers – but if you are interested in some of the best one-liners at this year’s festival, you can check out the full top 10 below.
#1. Adam Rowe
Working at the JobCentre has to be a tense job - knowing that if you get fired, you still have to come in the next day.
#2. Leo Kearse
I had a job drilling holes for water - it was well boring.
#3. Olaf Falafel
I took out a loan to pay for an exorcism. If I don't pay it back, I'm going to get repossessed.
#4. Daniel Audritt
In my last relationship, I hated being treated like a piece of meat. She was a vegan and refused to touch me.
#5. Flo & Joan
What do colour blind people do when they are told to eat their greens?
#6. Darren Walsh
I've got a new job collecting all the jumpers left in the park at the weekends, but it's not easy. They keep moving the goalposts.
#7. Justin Moorhouse
Trump said he'd build a wall but he hasn't even picked up a brick. He's just another middle-aged man failing on a DIY project.
=#8. Adele Cliff
I lost a friend after we had an argument about the Tardis. I thought it was a little thing, but it seemed much bigger once we got into it.
=#8. Alex Edelman
Why are they calling it Brexit and not The Great British Break Off?
#10. Laura Lexx
I think love is like central heating. You turn it on before guests arrive and pretend it's like this all the time.
The Edinburgh Fringe Festival continues until Tuesday 28th August
