These are the top 10 jokes of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

“A huge thank you for awarding my stupid joke with this title,” the winning comedian said.

The top 10 jokes of this year’s iteration of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe have been named.

The world’s largest performance arts festival, the Scottish event is particularly renowned for its comedic offerings – with comedy making up over one-third of its programme.

As such, every year the TV channel Dave organises the Dave’s Funniest Joke of the Fringe award, with the honour in 2023 going to English comedian Lorna Rose Treen.

Taken from her show Skin Pigeon, the one-liner goes: “I started dating a zookeeper, but it turned out he was a cheetah.”

To seek out the winner, Dave recruited some of the leading comedy critics in the UK to form a judging panel. These panellists attended hundreds of shows across the festival and then submitted ten of their favourite jokes they heard.

This shortlist was then put forward, without the name of the comic involved, to a public vote of 2,000 British people, after which the funniest was revealed.

A joke by American comedian Liz Guterbock came in second place. It goes: “The most British thing I’ve ever heard? A lady who said ‘Well I’m sorry, but I don’t apologise.'”

Meanwhile, in third place was Australian comedian Amos Gill with the one-liner: “Last year, I had a great joke about inflation, but it’s hardly worth it now.”

Speaking about her joke claiming the top spot, Treen said in a statement:

“I am blooming chuffed to have won Dave’s best joke of the fringe! Are you kidding! I can’t wait to tell my mum! It is already such a wonderful joy to be debuting at the Edinburgh Fringe this year, and this is a lovely thing on top. A huge thank you for awarding my stupid joke with this title!”

You can read the full list of jokes that made the top 10 right here:

1. I started dating a zookeeper, but it turned out he was a cheetah. Lorna Rose Treen
2. The most British thing I’ve ever heard? A lady who said ‘Well I’m sorry, but I don’t apologise.’ Liz Guterbock
3. Last year I had a great joke about inflation, but it’s hardly worth it now. Amos Gill
4. When women gossip we get called bitchy; but when men do it’s called a podcast. Sikisa
5. I thought I’d start off with a joke about The Titanic – just to break the ice. Masai Graham
6. How do coeliac Germans greet each other? Gluten tag. Frank Lavender
7. My friend got locked in a coffee place overnight. Now he only ever goes into Starbucks, not the rivals. He’s Costa-phobic. Roger Swift
8. I entered the ‘How not to surrender’ competition and I won hands down. Bennett Arron
9. Nationwide must have looked pretty silly when they opened their first branch. William Stone
10. My grandma describes herself as being in her ‘twilight years’ which I love because they’re great films. Daniel Foxx

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