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A laughing matter? The Top 10 jokes of the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe revealed

A laughing matter? The Top 10 jokes of the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe revealed

Following our coverage of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the world's largest arts festival, which includes wise advice from Fringe veterans and whether the Fringe becoming to exclusive, here are some jokes for you…

Every year, UK entertainment channel Dave recruits a panel of comedy critics, who attend hundreds of shows across festival, to seek out the best jokes of the Edinburgh Fringe festival.

The panel submit a shortlist anonymously – without the name of the comic involved – to a public vote of 2,000 Brits, who then decide which one-liner will be awarded Dave’s Funniest Joke of the Fringe prize.

This year (and for the first time since the pandemic), comedian Masai Graham got the most votes (52%) and has been crowned the winner, with the following pun:

“I tried to steal spaghetti from the shop, but the female guard saw me and I couldn’t get Pasta.”

So, absolute knee-slapper, or aren’t we suffering enough, make the zingers stop, for the love of gospel, make them stop?

We’ll let you be the judge and, just for some context, here are this year’s runner-ups, which include two entries from past winner Olaf Falafel and only two jokes were from female comedians:

2) “Did you know, if you get pregnant in the Amazon, it’s next day delivery?”Mark Simmons – 37%
3) “My attempts to combine nitrous oxide and Oxo cubes made me a laughing stock.” Olaf Falafel – 36%
4) “By my age, my parents had a house and a family, and to be fair to me, so do I, but it is the same house and it is the same family.” Hannah Fairweather – 35%
5) “I hate funerals – I’m not a mourning person.” Will Mars – 34%
6) “I spent the whole morning building a time machine, so that’s four hours of my life that I’m definitely getting back.” Olaf Falafel – 33%
7) “I sent a food parcel to my first wife. FedEx.” Richard Pulsford – 29%
8) “I used to live hand to mouth. Do you know what changed my life? Cutlery." Tim Vine – 28%
9) “Don’t knock threesomes. Having a threesome is like hiring an intern to do all the jobs you hate.” Sophie Duker – 27%
10) “I can’t even be bothered to be apathetic these days.” Will Duggan – 25%

This isn’t the first time Masai Graham has won the award, having previously picked up the prize in 2016 with his joke: “My dad suggested I register for a donor card, he’s a man after my own heart.”

Cherie Cunningham, Dave channel director, said: “What a pleasure to be back in Edinburgh! This is Dave’s first Joke of the Fringe in three years and the quality of submissions has been incredibly strong. It’s a fantastic top 10 full of newcomers and comedy veterans, and it’s a delight to crown Masai Graham as winner once more.”

Jane Barlow/AP
Fringe Festival, Edinburgh - Jane Barlow/AP

Previous winners of the coveted Joke of the Fringe Award include Olaf Falafel, Tim Vine and Nick Helm. Here are the past zingers:

  • 2019: “I keep randomly shouting out “Broccoli” and “Cauliflower” - I think I might have Florets.” – Olaf Falafel

  • 2018: “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.” – Adam Rowe

  • 2017: “I'm not a fan of the new pound coin, but then again, I hate all change.” – Ken Cheng

  • 2016: “My dad suggested I register for a donor card, he's a man after my own heart.” – Masai Graham

  • 2015: “I just deleted all the German names off my phone. It's Hans free.” – Darren Walsh

  • 2014: “I've decided to sell my hoover – well, it was just collecting dust.” – Tim Vine

  • 2013: “I heard a rumour that Cadbury is bringing out an oriental chocolate bar. Could be a Chinese Wispa.” – Rob Auton

  • 2012: “You know who really gives kids a bad name? Posh and Becks.” – Stewart Francis

  • 2011: “I needed a password eight characters long so I picked Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” – Nick Helm

  • 2010: “I've just been on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. I'll tell you what, never again.” – Tim Vine

  • 2009: “Hedgehogs – why can't they just share the hedge?” – Dan Antolpolski

  • 2008: “I can't believe Amy Winehouse self-harms. She's so irritating she must be able to find someone to do it for her.” – Zoe Lyons