So You Think You're Funny? (SYTYF?) is an annual stand-up comedy competition for new acts. The competition began in 1988 in the United Kingdom.
The finals are held every August at The Gilded Balloon during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Past winners include Aisling Bea, Dylan Moran, Lee Mack, Peter Kay and David O'Doherty.
History
So You Think You're Funny? was the idea of Karen Koren, artistic director of The Gilded Balloon, in order to discover new comic talent. During the years it has developed into the most influential competition of its kind in the UK, helping the careers of many of the country's leading comedians including Dylan Moran, Lee Mack, Graham Norton, David O'Doherty and Tommy Tiernan. Other competitors have included Ardal O'Hanlon, Johnny Vegas, Ed Byrne, Jason Byrne, Alex Zane, Reginald D Hunter, Craig Hill, Alan Carr, Rhod Gilbert, Andrew Lawrence and Russell Howard.
Sponsorship from Channel 4 began in 1993 and ran until 2004, since when Channel 5 and The Paramount Comedy Channel have been sponsors. Now sponsored by Foster's, the first prize is £5,000 and a place in the Best of British Show at the Montreal "Just For Laughs" Festival.
Past judges have included Steve Coogan, Owen O'Neill, Avid Merrion (Leigh Francis), Bob Mortimer and former So You Think You're Funny? winners Dylan Moran and Rhona Cameron.
Compères for the evening have included Eddie Izzard, Bill Bailey, Graham Norton and Jo Brand.
Rules and eligibility The rules and eligibility are as follows:
"1. The performer cannot have performed stand-up REGULARLY either paid or unpaid before 1st June of the year prior to the competition. *
2. The performer should not have appeared in So You Think You're Funny? before.
3. The performer’s material must be completely original.
4. The performer must have at least 8 minutes of original material.
5. The organisers reserve the right to select all entrants and decisions taken by the organisers and judges are final.
6. All entrants must be aged 18 and over.
This means you can have performed, either paid or unpaid before June 2013, but not regularly. So a handful of gigs well spaced out, once or twice, every couple of months is fine, but performing two times a week is too many. The exception to this is those who have performed as part of a recognised comedy course in this period."
Process of elimination The competition starts in the spring of each year with showcases in Bristol, Liverpool, Birmingham, York, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow, Inverness, Dublin, Brighton and Nottingham as well as ten comedy clubs in London. In 2013, there were over 500 applicants for only 55 places in the Edinburgh heats.
Each showcase is not a direct competition, with judges instead selecting the best acts they have seen over the entire run to take part in one of seven heats at the Gilded Balloon at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August. Winners of each of these heats go forward to the final.
Winners and finalists
2025
Results:
Madeleine Brettingham (Winner) Reb Day (runner up) Joel Walker (second runner up) Noni Oro Rose Peter Josip Qasim Akhtar Rachel Porter Sean Chalmers Valeria Vulpe
MC: Laura Lexx
Comedy Guest Judge: Doon Mackichan
2024
Results:
Alana Jackson (Winner) Ciara O’Connor (runner up) Ayo Adenekan (second runner up) Alex Gogarty Bert Broadbent Fab Goualin Kate Sharp Sophia Wren Laurie Brewster Paras Patel
MC: Maisie Adam
Comedy Guest Judge: Sue Perkins
2023
There were more than beating out over 400 contestants from across the UK. Results:
Samira Banks (Winner): Her humor often incorporates her Middle Eastern identity, including how her father arrived in United Kingdom as a refugee. Banks's comedy also involves ethnic groups and adult themes, such as Pornhub. Christopher Donovan (runner up) Lizzie Norm (3rd) Alex Lennox Archit Goenka Carwyn Blayney Chantel Nash Cormac Sinnott Lauren Carroll Sophie Gerrad
2022
Results:
Joshua Bethania (Winner) Mark Black (runner up) Jack Skipper (shared second runner up) Pravanya Pillai (shared second runner up) Ben Pollard Daniel Petrie Justina Seselskaite Prakash Jirjadhun Rohan Sharma
2021
Results:
Omar Badawy (Winner) Rae Brogan (runner up) Andy Watts (second runner up) Phil Marzouk Farhan Solo Lottie Field Kathleen Hughes Nate Kitch Caroline Maddison Kathy Maniura
2019 Results:
Finlay Christie (Winner) Shane Daniel Byrne (runner up) Charlie George (second runner up) Claire Haus Denis Len Erika Ehler Fady Kassab Kate Bancroft Kate McGann
MC: Zoe Lyons
Comedy Guest Judge: Jenny Eclair
2018 Results: Danny Garnell (Winner) Liam Farrelly (runner up) Bec Melrose (shared third) Joe Hobbs (shared third) Martin Durchov Natalie Loh Chelsea Birkby Patrick Healy Shane Clifford
MC: Zoe Lyons
Comedy Guest Judge: Rhod Gilbert
2017 Results: Maisie Adam (winner) Sarah Mann (runner up) Morgan Rees (third) Robin Allender Kirsten Brown Jamie D'Souza Archie Henderson Esther Manito Eric Rushton Amira Saied
MC: Aisling Bea
Comedy Guest Judge: David O'Doherty
2016 Results: Heidi Regan (Winner) Ruth Hunter (runner up) Danielle Walker (third) Harriet Braine Kelly Convey Sophie Henderson Jamie M Stuart McPherson Arielle Souma
MC: Zoe Lyons
Comedy Guest Judge: Alan Davies
2015 Results: Luca Cupani (Winner) Yuriko Kotani (runner up) Ed Night (as Ed Day) (third) Ben Pope Yumna Mohamed Neil O'Rourke Matilda Wnek Red Richardson Stephen Lawson (Aka Stephen Tries) AJ Roberts
MC: Zoe Lyons
Comedy Guest Judge: Mark Watson
2014 Results: Aidan Strangeman (Winner) Elliot Steel (2nd Place) Joe Hart (3rd Place) Mark Daniels Jim Smith Benji Waterstones Eshaan Akbar Gary Meikle
MC: Zoe Lyons
Comedy Guest Judge: Jason ManfordComedy.co.uk
Sponsor: Foster's
2013 Results:
Edward Hedges (Joint Winner) Demi Lardner (Joint Winner) Laura Mclenaghan (2nd Place) Andrew McBurney Nicky Wilkinson Tom Taylor Alasdair Beckett-King Russ Peers Jenny Collier
MC: Zoe Lyons
Comedy Guest Judge: Sarah MillicanBBC
Sponsor: Foster's
2012 Results:"Finalists & Runners up", So You Think You're Funny?. Retrieved 2012-09-30. Aisling Bea (Winner) Jonathon Pelham (2nd Place) Murdo Haggs (Joint 3rd Place) Wayne Mazadza (Joint 3rd Place) Ingrid Dahle Nick Dixon Amir Khoshsokhan Glenn Moore Conor Neville
MC: Jason Cook
Comedy Guest Judge: Ruby Wax
Sponsor: Foster's
2011 Results: Tommy Rowson (Winner) Dayne Rathbone (2nd Place) Lucy Beaumont (Joint 3rd Place) Fern Brady (Joint 3rd Place) Andy Clarke Darren Connell Stuart Hossack Alex Kealy Nicola Mantalios-Lovett
MC: Jarred Christmas
Comedy Guest Judge: Lee Mack
Sponsor: The Sims 3"The Sims 3 Searches For New Stars Of Comedy With So You Think You Are Funny", EA News, 2011-05-20. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
2010 Results: James Allenby-Kirk (Winner) Liam Williams (2nd Place) Rob Beckett (3rd Place) Laura Carr Alex Clissold-Jones Pete Dobbing Romesh Ranganathan Matt Richardson Chris Turner
MC: Rufus Hound
Comedy Guest Judge: Tim Minchin
2009 Results: Ivo Graham (Winner) Kevin Shevlin (2nd Place) Naz Osmanoglu (3rd Place) Richard Bowen Robin Buckland Jim Campbell Kai Humphries Winston Smith
MC: Lee Mack
Comedy Guest Judge: Tim Vine
2008 Results: Daniel Simonsen (Winner) Seann Walsh (2nd Place) Sara Pascoe (3rd Place) Gearoid Farrelly John Gavin Richard Perry Ahir Shah Daniel Sloss Josh Widdicombe
Comedy Guest Judge: Johnny Vegas
2007 Results: Richard Sandling (Winner) Ben Davis (2nd Place) Joanne Lau (3rd Place) Carl Hutchison James Marsh Gar Murran Daniel Rigby Jack Whitehall Toby Whithouse
2006 Results: Wes Packer (Winner) Hannah Gadsby (2nd Place) Ginger & Black (3rd Place) Alan Bennett Caroline Clifford Marlon Davis Raph Shirley Holly Walsh Andrew Watts
2005 Results: Tom Allen (Winner) Sarah Millican (2nd Place) Joe Wilkinson (3rd Place) Charlie Baker Kevin Bridges Robert Broderick Emma Fryer Stuart Goldsmith Josh Thomas
MC: Bill Bailey
2004 Results: Nick Sun (Winner) Russell Kane (2nd Place) Chris McCausland (3rd Place) Lee Bannard Rob Collins Gary Crombie Zoe Lyons Jarlath Regan Rose Heiney
2003 Results: Tom Wrigglesworth (Winner) Andrew Lawrence (2nd Place) Stuart Hudson (3rd Place) Anna Crilly Michael Fabbri Anna Keirle Matt Kirshen Rodney Marques Ed Petrie
2002 Results: Matthew Osborn (Winner) Mark Watson (2nd Place) Nina Conti (3rd Place) Michael Anderson Andy Bone Greg Davies Rhod Gilbert Rufus Hound Greg McHugh Ryan Gleeson
2001 Results: Miles Jupp (Winner) Stefano Paolini (2nd Place) Alan Carr (Joint 3rd Place) Michael Downey (Joint 3rd Place) Hils Barker John Bishop Seymour Mace Inder Manocha The Reverend Obadiah Steppenwolfe III
2000 Results: Drew Rokos (Winner) Des Clarke (runner-up) Mark Dolan Jason Manford"Awards | Jason Manford", jasonmanford.com. Retrieved 2012-09-30. Francesca Martinez Mat and McKinnon Les Hommes Sans Noms
1999 Results: David O'Doherty (Winner) Josie Long Juliet Cowan Russell Howard Richard Morris Andy Zaltzman Jimmy Carr
1998 Results: Rob Rouse (Winner) Dan Antopolski Kevin Hill Reginald D Hunter Nadine Lennard Moz Caroline Quinlan Stuart Stanley Alex Zane
1997 Results: Peter Kay (Winner) Nick Doody Paul Foot Jonathan Gunning Stephen Morrison TJ Murphy Rod Woodward
1996 Results: Tommy Tiernan (Winner) Jason Byrne Valentine Flyguy John Henderson David Keay Patrick McDonnell Lucy Porter
1995 Results: Lee Mack (Winner)
1994 Results: Martin Trenaman (Winner)
1993 Results: Dylan Moran (Winner) Steve Furst (Runner-up) Michael Smiley
1992 Results: Rhona Cameron (Winner)
1991 Results: Alan Francis (Winner)
1990 Results: Trio Brothers Troup (Rab Christie, Greg Hemphill and Neil Warhurst) (Winners)
1989 Results: Phil Kay (Winner)
1988 Results: Bruce Morton (Winner)
References
External links
The Gildedballoon.co.uk