Offbeat

Did it give you a giggle? A pound coin gag wins funniest joke award

Top 15 jokes voted the funniest at the Edinburgh Fringe 2017

Ken Cheng has won the 10th annual award for Dave’s Funniest Joke Of The Edinburgh Fringe. Photograph: UKTV Dave/Martina Salvi/PA
Ken Cheng has won the 10th annual award for Dave’s Funniest Joke Of The Edinburgh Fringe. Photograph: UKTV Dave/Martina Salvi/PA
Tue Aug 22 2017 - 12:05

A joke about the new pound coin has been named the funniest of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Ken Cheng won the 10th annual award for Dave's Funniest Joke Of The Fringe with the line: "I'm not a fan of the new pound coin, but then again, I hate all change."

The joke, from his show Ken Cheng: Chinese Comedian, won 33 per cent of a public vote on a shortlist of gags picked by comedy critics.

Previous winners of the award include Tim Vine, Stewart Francis and Zoe Lyons.

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Cheng studied maths at Cambridge for a year before dropping out to play online poker professionally.

His big break in showbiz came when he reached the final of the 2015 BBC Radio New Comedy Award.

On winning the Dave prize, Cheng said: “I am very proud to have won. As a tribute, I will name my firstborn son after this award and call him ‘Joke of the Fringe’.”

Frankie Boyle came second in the poll for his line: "Trump's nothing like Hitler. There's no way he could write a book."

The award, which was voted on by 2,000 people, lists jokes anonymously to avoid any bias towards well-known comedians.

Steve North, general manager of Dave, said: "From Trump and veganism to the new pound coin, this year's news agenda has certainly also provided some great inspiration for comedians to get grips with — it's fantastic to see that, even after ten years of the Joke of the Fringe award, there is no shortage of brilliant one-liners delivered at the Festival to get us all laughing."

Top 15 funniest jokes from this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival

  1. "I'm not a fan of the new pound coin, but then again, I hate all change." Ken Cheng — 33 per cent
  2. "Trump's nothing like Hitler. There's no way he could write a book." Frankie Boyle — 30per cent
  3. "I've given up asking rhetorical questions. What's the point?" Alexei Sayle — 29 per cent
  4. "I'm looking for the girl next door type. I'm just gonna keep moving house till I find her." Lew Fitz — 28 per cent
  5. "I like to imagine the guy who invented the umbrella was going to call it the 'brella'. But he hesitated." Andy Field — 27 per cent
  6. "Combine Harvesters. And you'll have a really big restaurant." Mark Simmons — 27 per cent
  7. "I'm rubbish with names. It's not my fault, it's a condition. There's a name for it..." Jimeoin — 26 per cent
  8. "I have two boys, 5 and 6. We're no good at naming things in our house." Ed Byrne — 24 per cent
  9. "I wasn't particularly close to my dad before he died... which was lucky, because he trod on a land mine." Olaf Falafel — 24 per cent
  10. "Whenever someone says, 'I don't believe in coincidences.' I say, 'Oh my God, me neither!'" Alasdair Beckett-King — 23 per cent
  11. "A friend tricked me into going to Wimbledon by telling me it was a men's singles event." Angela Barnes — 20 per cent
  12. "As a vegan, I think people who sell meat are disgusting; but apparently people who sell fruit and veg are grocer." Adele Cliff — 20 per cent
  13. "For me dying is a lot like going camping. I don't want to do it." Phil Wang — 20 per cent
  14. "I wonder how many chameleons snuck onto the Ark." Adam Hess — 18 per cent
  15. "I went to a Pretenders gig. It was a tribute act." Tim Vine — 18 per cent

PA