A stand-up comedian whose show centres on his working class roots has won the funniest joke competition at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Adam Rowe, 26, netted 41 percent of the public vote in the contest, run by TV channel Dave.
The Liverpudlian’s gag – “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” – was at the top of a shortlist of 10.
His show, Undeniable, features the joke in a section that aims to dispel myths about growing up on benefits.
On winning the award, Rowe said: “It’s such a huge honour, I really never expected to be in with a shout of winning things like this, so it’s just a massive but lovely surprise.”
Luke Hales, channel director for Dave, said the selection of one-liners the public had to choose from this year were “brilliant”.
“This year the news agenda and everyday British idiosyncrasies have provided some wonderful opportunities for comedians to use their creative and comic genius in giving us all a giggle,” he added.
Student Ken Cheng won 2017’s award, with the joke: “I’m not a fan of the new pound coin, but then again, I hate all change.”
The shortlist itself is decided on by comedy critics. Other jokes included in the top ten were:
- “I had a job drilling holes for water - it was well boring” - Leo Kearse
- “I took out a loan to pay for an exorcism. If I don’t pay it back, I’m going to get repossessed” - Olaf Falafel
- “In my last relationship, I hated being treated like a piece of meat. She was a vegan and refused to touch me” - Daniel Audritt
- “What do colour blind people do when they are told to eat their greens?” - Flo and Joan
- “I’ve got a new job collecting all the jumpers left in the park at the weekends, but it’s not easy. They keep moving the goalposts” - Darren Walsh
- “Trump said he’d build a wall but he hasn’t even picked up a brick. He’s just another middle-aged man failing on a DIY project” - Justin Moorhouse
- “I lost a friend after we had an argument about the Tardis. I thought it was a little thing, but it seemed much bigger once we got into it” - Adele Cliff
- “Why are they calling it Brexit and not The Great British Break Off?” - Alex Edelman
- “I think love is like central heating. You turn it on before guests arrive and pretend it’s like this all the time” - Laura Lexx
Undeniable will tour the UK from Friday 26 October until Wednesday, 28 November. You can find more information on tour dates here.