The following pun by comedian Darren Walsh has won the prize for funniest joke of the Edinburgh Fringe:
“I just deleted all the German names off my phone. It’s Hans free.”
Walsh, from Peterborough, had also won the first UK Pun Championship last year. This joke award instituted eight years ago. Previous winners include Tim Vine, Stewart Francis, Zoe Lyons and Nick Helm.
The youngest comedian to make the award shortlist is a 12-year-old ‘Grace The Child’.
The top 10 funniest jokes of the Fringe
- “I just deleted all the German names off my phone. It’s Hans free.” – Darren Walsh
- “Kim Kardashian is saddled with a huge arse … but enough about Kanye West” – Stewart Francis
- “Surely every car is a people carrier?” – Adam Hess
- “What’s the difference between a ‘hippo’ and a ‘Zippo’? One is really heavy, the other is a little lighter” – Masai Graham
- “If I could take just one thing to a desert island I probably wouldn’t go” – Dave Green
- “Jesus fed 5,000 people with two fishes and a loaf of bread. That’s not a miracle. That’s tapas” – Mark Nelson
- “Red sky at night. Shepherd’s delight. Blue sky at night. Day” – Tom Parry
- “The first time I met my wife, I knew she was a keeper. She was wearing massive gloves” – Alun Cochrane
- “Clowns divorce. Custardy battle” – Simon Munnery
- “They’re always telling me to live my dreams. But I don’t want to be naked in an exam I haven’t revised for…” – Grace The Child.
A panel of judges, who saw an average of 60 shows each at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, compiled shortlisted jokes and sent to 2,000 people, without mentioning the name of the comedian. People voted for the joke that they found the funniest.
The judges also released a list of jokes that just missed out on the shortlist.
“I never lie on my CV…because it creases it.” – Jenny Collier
“If you don’t know what introspection is you need to take a long, hard look at yourself” – Ian Smith
“I usually meet my girlfriend at 12:59 because I like that one-to-one time” – Tom Ward
“Whenever I get to Edinburgh, I’m reminded of the definition of a gentleman. It’s someone who knows how to play the bagpipes, but doesn’t” – Gyles Brandreth
“Let me tell you a little about myself. It’s a reflexive pronoun that means ‘me’ ” -Ally Houston
“Earlier this year I saw “The Theory of Everything” – loved it. Should’ve been called “Look Who’s Hawking”, that’s my only criticism” – James Acaster
