The winner of this year’s Panel Prize at Dave’s Comedy Awards 2019 is Jessica Brough who lives and works in Edinburgh and founded Fringe of Colour.

Jessica Brough PHOTO Martin P McAdam

Dominic Maxwell the chair of the Panel said that they had decided to award her the prize as she has vision and passion for a project which began last year with no funding and no staff. She gave away 25 tickets for 19 shows this year to audiences of colour.

Jessic explained that the money will be invested in running the scheme again next year.She said : The scheme helps young people get to The Fringe which can appear as though it is for a different demographic from them. The prize will make a huge difference. It will help pay people to work on the scheme and make it more sustainable for future years.”

The presenters this year were 1981 winner Stephen Fry and 2018 Best Comedy Show winner Rose Matafeo.’

It was Stephen Fry’s birthday and he was presented with a fabulous cake showing him as the first winner of the newcomer award in 1981 when he appeared in Cambridge Footlights.

Stephen Fry PHOTO Martin P McAdam

The winners in the other categories were Catherine Cohen : The Twist….? She’s Gorgeous which has been at Pleasance Courtyard who won the 2019 Best Newcomer Award and Jordan Brookes won the Best Comedy Show for his I’ve Got Nothing also at Pleasance Courtyard.

Winners Catherine Cohen and Jordan Brookes with their awards. PHOTO Martin P McAdam
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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.