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First trans comedian to win Edinburgh comedy award

2025-08-25 00:00:11
Sam Nicoresti won the award for Best Comedy Show at the Edinburgh Fringe

British comedian Sam Nicoresti has become the first transgender person to win the award for Best Comedy Show at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Nicoresti took the accolade for the show Baby Doomer, which explores life as a trans woman.

Ayoade Bamgboye won best newcomer for her show Swings and Roundabouts - making her the first black woman to take the award.

This is the first year the Fringe has scrapped the annual award for funniest joke - a mainstay of the festival for the best part of two decades.

The esteemed but separate Edinburgh Comedy Awards main prize recognises the best performance and routine overall each year.

It launched in 1981 and takes credit for helping establish the careers of modern comedy greats.

This year it also handed its Victoria Wood award - a panel prize for those who "embody the true spirit of the Fringe" - to Comedy Club 4 Kids.

Nica Burns, director of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, said the winners capture the spirit of modern comedy - "bold, brilliant, and deeply connected to audiences".

She said: "Sam Nicoresti's Baby Doomer is a masterfully woven, polished and delightfully human show that captures an essential moment with, to paraphrase her words, laughs by the seconds.

"Ayoade Bamgboye's debut hour is electric, constantly keeping you on your toes.

"What begins as an everyday anecdote about the Co-Op unfolds into a rich, often surreal world, layered with profound emotional depth. She delivers it all with remarkable charisma and presence. Ayoade has a brilliant future ahead of her."

The Edinburgh Comedy Awards is in its 45th year.

Prevous winners include Stephen Fry, Steve Coogan, Lee Evans, Al Murray, Sarah Millican, Omid Djalili, Eddie Izzard, Tim Minchin, The League of Gentlemen, Jenny Eclair and Frank Skinner.