The comedian with the funniest joke at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe festival has now been decided.
Swedish comic Olaf Falafel was given the distinction this time around, with a vegetable-themed joke from his
comedy show It’s One Giant Leek For Mankind.
The joke in question?I keep randomly shouting out 'Broccoli' and 'Cauliflower'... I think I might have florets.”Not bad, not bad.
Comedy channel Dave’s “Funniest Joke Of The Fringe” award is voted for by 2000 members of the public, who choose from a shortlist of 10 selected by an expert panel of 10 judges.
Other comics to make the shortlist include Ross Smith (“A thesaurus is great. There’s no other word for it”), Adele Cliff (“I accidentally booked myself onto an escapology course; I’m really struggling to get out of it”) and Milton Jones (“What’s driving Brexit? From here it looks like it’s probably the Duke of Edinburgh”).But how does Olaf’s effort compare to previous winners? Let’s take a little look at who received the title in the last 10 years…“Hedgehogs – why can’t they just share the hedge?”Dan Antolpolski, 2009“I’ve just been on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. I’ll tell you what, never again.”Tim Vine, 2010 “I needed a password eight characters long so I picked Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.”Nick Helm, 2011 “You know who really gives kids a bad name? Posh and Becks.”Stewart Francis, 2012“I heard a rumour that Cadbury is bringing out an oriental chocolate bar. Could be a Chinese Wispa.”Rob Auton, 2013“I’ve decided to sell my hoover – well, it was just collecting dust.”Tim Vine, 2014 “I just deleted all the German names off my phone. It’s Hans free.”Darren Walsh, 2015“My dad suggested I register for a donor card, he’s a man after my own heart.”Masai Graham, 2016“I’m not a fan of the new pound coin, but then again, I hate all change.”Ken Cheng, 2017“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, 2018
Adele Cliff was the only woman whose joke made the shortlist this year, with other nominees including Richard Pulsford, Mark Simmons and Richard Stott.