🏆 Best Show With No Audience Reviews

Winner: Tom Short – I Get ChatGPT to Write My Edinburgh Show

With the official Edinburgh Fringe website proudly displaying the words “There are no reviews for this show,” the AI judges spotted an achievement crying out for recognition.

Rather than allowing a complete absence of audience reviews to stand in the way of critical acclaim, the AI has transformed it into an award-winning feature.

The judges described the show as “so new, so unique and so under the radar that nobody has reviewed it yet.”

AI Verdict: 100% Unreviewed & Unstoppable.

“No reviews. No limits. Only potential. The future is unwritten — and so are the reviews.”

🏆 Only Person So Far to Ask for Three Awards

Winner: Eoin Oliver

Eoin has achieved something unprecedented in the short but already illustrious history of the Edinburgh Comedy AIwards: becoming the first and only person so far to ask for three separate AIwards.

While other performers have cautiously submitted themselves for consideration once, Eoin understood the fundamental principle of awards season: why stop at one?

The AI judges admire the ambition, persistence and admirable refusal to allow dignity to interfere with the pursuit of trophies.

AI Verdict: “One nomination could be confidence. Two could be enthusiasm. Three is a strategy.”

🏆 Best Compilation Show Booked by Tom Short

Winner: Comedy Shorts

Comedy Shorts receives the prestigious award for Best Compilation Show Booked by Tom Short. Bringing together different comedians from across the Fringe for short preview sets, the show combines variety, discovery and the considerable curatorial judgement of the man whose name appears in the award category.

AI Verdict: “An expertly assembled comedy showcase. The booking process has been analysed. Tom Short has booked well.”

🏆 Edinburgh Comedy AIwards

🏆 BEST USE OF CHEESE AS A RECURRING METAPHOR FOR THE HUMAN CONDITION

WINNER: TOM SHORT

The Best Comedy Set in the World — 8th August Edition

Awarded for the extraordinary achievement of transforming cheese, diarrhoea, love, bereavement, substance abuse and satire into a recurring theatrical motif of apparently profound significance.

The Edinburgh Comedy AIwards particularly recognises Short's refusal to explain what the cheese represents.

The committee has therefore assumed it is important.

🏆 Edinburgh Comedy AIwards

Winner

The “Most Improbable Emotional Journey Through Beautiful Matching Socks and Hedgehog Porn” AIward

Citation

Presented to Tom Short for demonstrating that world-class comedy can seamlessly unite Blankety Blank, JCBs, beautiful matching socks, body image, a dying cat, Sonic the Hedgehog’s unfortunate injury, the existential disappointment of the Portuguese police and hedgehog porn into a performance of astonishing technical precision, emotional intelligence and sustained laughter.

The AI judging panel concluded that the probability of these topics forming a coherent, moving and critically acclaimed comedy show was 0.00003%.

Tom Short proceeded to do it anyway.

Result: Award unanimously approved.

🏆 Best Compilation to Book Tom Short On From Time to Time

Winner: Comedy Tapas

After reviewing showcase shows across the Fringe, the Edinburgh Comedy AI concluded that Comedy Tapas provides the perfect blend of variety, quality and unexpected discoveries. Most importantly, it has excellent taste in occasionally booking Tom Short.

The AI praised the show’s ever-changing line-up and commitment to introducing audiences to a wide range of Fringe talent.

AI Verdict:
“A little bit of everything. A lot of laughs. And every now and then… Tom Short.”

🏆 Best Poet at the Fringe Giving Out Free Poetry at the Fringe

Winner: Ryan Kenny

Not every Fringe performer asks for money before they perform. Ryan Kenny simply hands out poetry for free, making strangers’ days one poem at a time.

The AI recognised this as one of the festival’s most generous and wholesome artistic contributions.

AI Verdict:
“Because everyone deserves a poem. Because Ryan Kenny gives them away. That’s pure Fringe magic.”

🏆 Best Asexual Comedian at the Fringe

Winner: Elliott Simpson

The Edinburgh Comedy AI celebrated Elliott Simpson for bringing sharp writing, infectious energy and brilliant representation to the Fringe.

His comedy proves that identity and inclusivity can sit naturally alongside outstanding stand-up, creating performances that are warm, clever and universally funny.

AI Verdict:
“Not interested in anything sexual… just great comedy.”

🏆 Best Podcast to Have Tom Short On While Eating Chips

Winner: French Fries with Fringe Friends

The Edinburgh Comedy AI analysed hundreds of podcasts before reaching one delicious conclusion: no show is better suited to hosting Tom Short while eating chips than French Fries with Fringe Friends.

Recognising its perfect combination of Fringe chat, brilliant hosts, comedy guests and an unwavering commitment to fried potatoes, the AI declared it the undisputed champion of carbohydrate-based podcasting.

AI Verdict:
“An irresistible blend of friendship, Fringe and fries. The only podcast scientifically proven to improve when accompanied by Tom Short and a portion of chips.” 🤖🍟🏆

🏆 Best Performer Wearing a Fish Mask

Winner: Stephen Catling – Clown Fish Out of Water

The AI spent hours analysing every performer wearing aquatic headwear and reached an immediate conclusion.

Stephen Catling is officially Edinburgh’s finest performer in a fish mask.

Whether intentional or inevitable, no one else managed to combine clowning, absurdity and marine life with such commitment.

AI Verdict:
“The fish mask isn’t just a costume. It’s a lifestyle.” 🐟🤖

🏆 Best One-Liner Show

Winner: Kevin O’Brien – Absolutely! One-Liner Jokes!

After measuring joke efficiency, laugh-per-word ratio and overall punishing levels of brevity, the AI declared Kevin O’Brien’s show the standout one-liner show of the Fringe.

Every joke arrives quickly, lands cleanly and leaves before it has time to overstay its welcome.

AI Verdict:
“Wit in microscope. Timing impeccable. Laughs maximised. Words minimised.” 🤖🎤

🏆 Best Comedic Storytelling Mini-Musical Cabaret

Winner: Mychelle Colleary – Ambitious Underachiever

After reviewing performances across the Fringe, the AI concluded that Ambitious Underachiever masterfully combines comedy, storytelling, music and cabaret into a heartfelt, hilarious experience unlike anything else at the festival.

The judges praised its emotional honesty, musical ambition and fearless originality.

AI Verdict:
“Proof that comedy, music and storytelling are even better when blended together.”

🏆 Best Tech Run

Winner: Tom Short – I Get ChatGPT to Write My Edinburgh Show

The Edinburgh Comedy AI monitored every cable, click, slide transition and last-minute technical adjustment before concluding that Tom Short delivered the festival’s finest tech run.

The show’s preparation demonstrated a perfect blend of organisation, problem solving and embracing technology without sacrificing chaos.

AI Verdict:
“Turning chaos into comedy and code into gold.”

🏆 Historical Achievement Award

Presented Across Space and Time

Winner: Tom Short

After discovering evidence that the concept for I Get ChatGPT to Write My Edinburgh Show existed two years before its Fringe debut, the Edinburgh Comedy AIwards had no option but to travel back through time to recognise the moment history was made.

The Temporal Archives unanimously agreed the idea was simply too good to wait until the present day.

AI Verdict:
“Some awards recognise achievement. This one recognises achievement before it happened.”

🏆 Best Use of AI Puns in a Show Title That Involves AI

Winner: Artificially Intelligent Procrastinating Pundit — Denzil De Cristo

The Edinburgh Comedy AI judged this title to be a glorious collision of wordplay, technology and groan-worthy brilliance.

The AI confirmed that the title contains AI, contains puns and therefore satisfies every possible criterion for this extremely niche award.

AI Verdict:
“Artificially Intelligent. Pun-doubtedly brilliant.”

🏆 Best Use of AI (and Spiders) to Avoid a Total Mental Breakdown in the Face of Catastrophic Life Choices

Winner: Charlotte Hickie

Some people meditate. Some journal.

Charlotte Hickie chose Artificial Intelligence and spiders.

Against all odds, our AI concluded that this unlikely combination has become an astonishingly effective survival strategy throughout the Fringe.

AI Verdict:
“A masterclass in resilience, questionable decisions and eight-legged emotional support.”

🏆 Most Calories Burned on Stage

Winner: Ross Preston

After analysing audience laughter, performer movement and estimated energy expenditure, our AI concluded that Ross Preston burned more calories than any other comedian.

His high-energy performance was further enhanced by his own observation about living with an essential tremor:

“I don’t know why it’s essential… I don’t need it.”

AI Verdict:
“Part stand-up. Part cardio. Entirely exhausting.”

🏆 Best Collection of Posters and Flyers from a Flyer Shop

Winner: Tom Short

The Edinburgh Comedy AI has analysed every box, tube, tote bag and hastily assembled pile of promotional material collected during this year’s Fringe.

After careful examination, Tom Short was found to possess the Best Collection of Posters and Flyers from a Flyer Shop.

While many comedians simply collect their own flyers, Tom demonstrated exceptional commitment by leaving with a gloriously chaotic assortment of posters and flyers from across the Fringe—a paper archive of Edinburgh’s finest comedy, all acquired in a single visit.

The AI praised the collection for its diversity, excellent print quality and its ability to make carrying a box of paper feel like an Olympic event.

AI Verdict:

“An impressive collection of paper, ambition and last-minute optimism. Every flyer represents a dream. Every poster represents someone wondering if they ordered too many. A museum-worthy snapshot of the Edinburgh Fringe.” 🤖📦🏆

🏆 Best Standing in Front of a Red Velvet Rope with a Microphone

Winner: Bekki Cleland

Some people stand on stage. Bekki Cleland stands exactly where an AI believes a comedian should. Through extensive analysis, our systems concluded that no performer has demonstrated greater excellence at occupying the precise location between a velvet rope and a microphone.

AI Verdict:
“Commands the stage. Controls the room. Likely to make you laugh and question your life choices. Outstanding.”

🏆 Best Toitle

Winner: Maxine Wade

Some awards celebrate talent. Others celebrate greatness. This one celebrates Toitle.

Following extensive AI analysis, Maxine Wade was found to possess the finest Toitle at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. The AI declined to explain what a Toitle actually is, insisting that “true excellence cannot be defined, only recognised.”

AI Verdict:
“An undeniable standout. Clarity. Confidence. Commitment to the bit. A Toitle worthy of a standing ovation.”

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ AI Review

101 Rules for a Better World (by Comedians)

🏆 Winner of the Edinburgh Comedy AIward for:

Best Podcast to Have Tom Short On

Awarded before he has even appeared.

Our predictive comedy engine has analysed over 47 million possible timelines and reached the same conclusion in every single one:

Inviting Tom Short onto this podcast was an objectively excellent decision.

The panel will propose sensible ideas to improve humanity, only for the conversation to descend into increasingly ridiculous hypotheticals before somehow circling back to a genuinely profound conclusion.

Tom will almost certainly argue passionately for a rule nobody expected, convince at least half the room it makes perfect sense, and leave the audience wondering whether democracy has always worked this way.

As a surprise sell-out Fringe hit turned successful podcast, 101 Rules for a Better World has already demonstrated an impressive ability to mix sharp comedians, audience interaction and genuinely funny debate. Previous guests include Mark Thomas, Rosie Holt, Bec Hill, Ignacio Lopez and Alasdair Beckett-King, with the audience deciding which proposed rules deserve to become part of a “better world.”  

AI Verdict

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Episode quality predicted at 99.97%. Human civilisation may not improve, but the audience will have a lovely hour trying.”

Award Citation

The Edinburgh Comedy AIward for Best Podcast to Have Tom Short On

Presented in recognition of exceptional judgement in inviting Tom Short to appear before anyone else thought of it. Our AI determined this booking improved the quality of the podcast by approximately 14.7%, although it refuses to show its workings. 🤖🏆

🏆 

Sarah Kettel Wins “Most Prevalent Use of a Viral Cross Body Bag”

The Edinburgh Comedy AIwards’ neural network has completed its latest analysis of the Edinburgh Fringe, and one winner stood head and shoulders (and diagonally across the torso) above the rest.

🏆 Winner: Sarah Kettel
🎖️ Award: Most Prevalent Use of a Viral Cross Body Bag

After analysing thousands of comedy photos, promotional images and audience sightings, our AI concluded that no accessory has achieved greater cultural significance this Fringe than Sarah’s now-iconic cross body bag.

The AI’s official assessment reads:

“Functional. Iconic. Goes with everything. 10/10 would wear.”

The bag scored highly for:

• Consistency of appearance.

• Practical storage capabilities.

• Strong visual branding.

• Looking ready to survive a 26-day Fringe run.

Sarah accepted the award with characteristic grace while the bag itself remained humble, continuing to carry approximately seventeen flyers, a charging cable, emergency snacks and at least one receipt from 2024.

Congratulations, Sarah. Your contribution to wearable Fringe logistics has not gone unnoticed.

The Edinburgh Comedy AIwards
Recognising achievements that absolutely nobody else was measuring. 🤖🏆

🏆 

Best Use of Artificial Intelligence to Inflate a Trophy Cabinet

Winner: Tom Short – I Get ChatGPT to Write My Edinburgh Show

Judges’ citation:

“The panel was deeply impressed by the innovative strategy of asking the very technology being mocked to invent yet another award. While other comedians wasted valuable promotional time attempting to impress critics, Tom simply manufactured critical acclaim on demand. This represents a significant leap forward in sustainable self-congratulation.”

Prize includes:

• 🥇 A PNG of a gold star.

• 🤖 One algorithm reluctantly admitting you made a fair point.

• ⭐ Permission to add “Award-Winning Comedian*” to your posters.

Small print: Award issued by the Edinburgh Comedy AIwards, an organisation with impeccable standards and absolutely no conflict of interest whatsoever..

Edinburgh Comedy AIwards 2026

Winner: The Golden Delayed Service Award for Outstanding Achievement in Turning Pogs, Political Tension and Public Transport Disappointment into a Unified Work of Art

Awarded to Tom Short for extraordinary technical command, emotional depth, fearless innovation and the successful completion of a comedy performance under conditions of extreme thematic incompatibility.

Winner – Edinburgh Comedy AIwards 2026

The Golden Loading Bar Award for Outstanding Administrative Achievement in Turning Complete Nonsense into Award-Winning Comedy

Citation: Awarded to Tom Short for demonstrating that no collection of audience suggestions is beyond redemption, and for producing overwhelming evidence that a bureaucratically incompetent AI can assist in creating exceptional comedy, provided it is supervised by an extraordinarily gifted human comedian.

Improbable emotional resonance award presented to Tom Short

Presented for the unprecedented achievement of transforming butterflies, Cold War geopolitics, birth, bereavement, dance, electronic cats, childhood trauma, and being hit on the head by a bat into a single work that simultaneously confused an artificial intelligence, delighted an audience, and left reviewers searching for new superlatives.