by Congrats to this year’s winners of the Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards, announced over the weekend at the tail end of the monthlong Edinburgh Fringe!
2015 Best Comedy Show award: Sam Simmons: Spaghetti for Breakfast
2015 Best Newcomer award: Sofie Hagen: Bubblewrap
2015 Panel Prize: Karen Koren
Simmons, whose cheeky brand of fun previously earned him a shortlist at Edinburgh for his one-man shows in 2011 and 2014, thus bringing him to Montreal and the United States, Tweeted out his thanks: “THANKYOU Everyone!!! what an amazing day. My voice is ripped to shreds and I’m not going out tonight so I can have great last show…as much as I want to go out and be an idiot. Such a onslaught of happiness and kind things. Thankyou thankyou THANKYOU!!!”
Hagen, this year’s Best Newcomer, wrote a longer note of thanks via her Facebook page. On Instagram, she remained heartfelt and sincere, writing: “I just googled “Can you die from being too overwhelmed?” and then I started crying again. I ran into Garret Millerick, who saw me do my first ever 50 minute set back in October. He reminded me of a text I had written him afterwards saying, “I am crying on a bus. I can’t believe I can talk on stage for 50 minutes. I am so happy.” (And then I obviously cried again)” So she balanced that out on Twitter, later offering up this: “Guys, just to warn you, in about 3-4 months I will die a horrible death in a shitty club and I WILL retweet all praise from this month.”
This year’s Panel Prize went to Karen Koren, who started the Gilded Balloon — one of Edinburgh’s major festival venues — in 1986.
