Edinburgh Fringe funniest joke: Pasta gag wins top prize

A pasta pun has been named the funniest joke of the Edinburgh Fringe as the award returned for the first time since the Covid pandemic.

Masai Graham was voted the winner with his gag: "I tried to steal spaghetti from the shop, but the female guard saw me and I couldn't get pasta."

The Dave's Funniest Joke of the Fringe accolade is voted for by members of the public.

It was last awarded in 2019 when a gag about vegetables took the title.

Graham also won the trophy in 2016 with his joke: "My dad suggested I register for a donor card - he's a man after my own heart."

Reacting to his second win, the West Bromwich-born comedian said: "It's great to see the Edinburgh Fringe Festival back up and running again, it's my spiritual home.

"I was so delighted to find out I'd won the Dave's Funniest Joke of the Fringe award for a second time - I thought: This is getting pasta joke."

Comedy critics attended hundreds of shows across the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to create a shortlist of jokes which was voted on by 2,000 members of the public, who were not told the names of the comedians in the running.

Now in its 13th year, previous winners of the award include Ken Cheng, Olaf Falafel, Tim Vine, Rob Auton, Stewart Francis, Zoe Lyons and Nick Helm.

Dave channel director Cherie Cunningham said: "What a pleasure to be back in Edinburgh. This is Dave's first Joke of the Fringe in three years and the quality of submissions has been incredibly strong.

"It's a fantastic top 10 full of newcomers and comedy veterans, and it's a delight to crown Masai Graham as winner once more."

Ten jokes made the 2022 shortlist:

1. "I tried to steal spaghetti from the shop, but the female guard saw me and I couldn't get pasta" - Masai Graham

2. "Did you know, if you get pregnant in the Amazon, it's next-day delivery" - Mark Simmons

3. "My attempts to combine nitrous oxide and Oxo cubes made me a laughing stock" - Olaf Falafel

4. "By my age, my parents had a house and a family, and to be fair to me, so do I - but it is the same house and it is the same family" - Hannah Fairweather

5. "I hate funerals - I'm not a mourning person" - Will Mars

6. "I spent the whole morning building a time machine, so that's four hours of my life that I'm definitely getting back" - Olaf Falafel

7. "I sent a food parcel to my first wife. FedEx" - Richard Pulsford

8. "I used to live hand to mouth. Do you know what changed my life? Cutlery" - Tim Vine

9. "Don't knock threesomes. Having a threesome is like hiring an intern to do all the jobs you hate" - Sophie Duker

10. "I can't even be bothered to be apathetic these days" - Will Duggan