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American teenage comedy sensation Bo Burnham, who is appearing at his first Fringe, has been nominated alongside inbetweeners star Greg Davies, as well as Josie Long, Russell Kane and Sarah Millican as the best act at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2010.

Now in it’s 30th year, the world’s most prestigious comedy prize, which comes with a £10,000 cash reward for the winner, is given to the most outstanding act at the Edinburgh Fringe.

The prize, which was formerly known as the Perrier’s and the If.Comedie awards, has been sponsored by beer giant Fosters for the first time.

Previous winners include Lee Evans, Steve Coogan, Al Murray, Frank Skinner and Sean Hughes, Brendan Burns, David O’Doherty, and

The nomination is confirmation of the rise of Burnham, whose internet songs have been a world-wide sensation on YouTube and watched by millions around the world.

On the shortlist for best newcomer are Imran Yusuf, Asher Treleaven, Gareth Richards, Late Night Gimp Fight, Roisin Conaty and the underground hit of the Fringe, The Boy with tape on his face.

Nica Burns, producer of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards said: "Two fantastic 30th anniversary shortlists which reflect the enormous changes in the comedy landscape.

"For the first time two first-class female comics, Josie Long and Sarah Millican, both Best Newcomer winners, join 20-year-old Bo Burnham in an outstanding Edinburgh debut, Greg Davies from We Are Klang in his first solo show and Russell Kane winning his third consecutive nomination.

"It took a very impassioned, intense debate to select the nominees from an extremely strong and diverse long list.

"2010 will be remembered as a vintage year for comedy."

The nominations for Best Comedy Show, which has a £10,000 prize, are:

    * Bo Burnham: Words, Words, Words
    * Greg Davies: Firing Cheeseballs at a Dog
    * Josie Long: Be Honourable!
    * Russell Kane: Smokescreens and Castles
    * Sarah Millican: Chatterbox

The nominations for Best Newcomer are:

    * Imran Yusuf: An Audience with Imran Yusuf
    * Asher Treleaven: Secret Door
    * Gareth Richards: Stand Up Between Songs
    * Late Night Gimp Fight!
    * Roisin Conaty: Hero, Warrior, Fireman, Liar
    * The Boy With The Tape on His Face

Comedian Holly Walsh has been badly injured after leaping from a pier in Worthing, West Sussex in a mock helicopter as part of a Birdman competition.

The CBBC presenter, who was competing to raise money for Rainbows Children's Hospice, was injured after entering the water in an awkward position. 

The presenter, who has reportedly suffered a suspected fractured arm and a dislocated shoulder, was strapped to a spinal board and taken to Hospital immediately after being rescured from the water.

Shoreham lifeboat spokesman Dave Cassan, said: "We can confirm we were tasked to get a person out of the water.

"It appears she entered the water wrong. It is thought she has a serious fracture above her elbow and a dislocated shoulder. The inshore lifeboat brought her to the shore at Worthing and she was transferred to hospital by ambulance."

The International Birdman Competition is a two-day event which draws up to 10,000 spectators to the seaside town each year. The event encourages participants to leap off the pier in their own home-made flying machines.

Other entrants in the competition included an Own and a Pussycat – with their own rowing boat – and Batman and Robin.

Comedian Frank Skinner has left directors at the Assembly in disarray after quitting his Fringe show at the last minute.

Comedian Stephen K Amos has had to be drafted in as a last-minute replacement for Skinner who pulled out of the show on Monday.

The show at the Assembly Rooms, which was due to start this evening, was set to host some of the biggest stars that have appeared at the venue in the last 30 years.

The plethora of star guests due to appear over the course of the Fringe including Alan Cumming, Clive Anderson, Alistair McGowan, Mel Smith, Steven Berkoff, Omid Djalili, Jenny Eclair, Jo Brand, Julian Clary, Barry Cryer and Lee Mack.

In a statement Skinner said: ‘It's a great shame about The Talk Show. My bags were packed, my train ticket was in my pocket, and I was very excited about the whole thing.

‘It became apparent there were some brilliant people lined up but way too many gaps. It seems it was harder to put together than anyone thought. I'm genuinely gutted about it.’

American comedian Lewis Schaffer has been forced to perform his Edinburgh Fringe show on the street after mixing up the timing of his show.

Schaffer, who is known to pull off the odd publicity stunt in his time, accidentally sent out details for his show “Free Until Famous with Lewis Schaffer” with a show time that is two hours earlier than his allocated slot at the Counting House venue on Edinburgh’s West Nicholson Street.

For the past ten days up to 50 people have been turning up to his current 17:30 show in the 50 seat capacity Counting House Lounge even though his official show is scheduled to run at 7:30pm. 

The venue have now asked the comedian if he can make alternative arrangement for his second show as the space is due to be filled by another performer.

He now needs a venue for his advertised 17:30 performance, ideally near The Counting House where his 19:30 show continues until August 29th in the Counting House Ballroom.

Schaffer is now calling on the Fringe community to help him find a venue otherwise he will be forced to do his show in the street.

Anyone with any practical ideas should contact Lewis Schaffer on letloveflow@yahoo.com.

Scottish comedian Frankie Boyle has dismissed the idea that his brand of comedy is controversial. 

Speaking on the podcast for The Stand Comedy Club, Boyle, who has stoked controversy on a number of occasions throughout his career, said that he rarely receives complaints about his material.

The former Mock The Week star said: "There's not been any controversy in terms of gigs. I've done this to 100,000 people on the tour so far - this new tour - and almost no complaints, maybe two or three. 

"If people want to pretend that that's controversial so they can write a s**t story about it without f**king leaving their desk then fine. But no-one finds it controversial, I don't think."

In April the BBC apologised for a joke Boyle made about joining the Israeli army over two years ago. 

The BBC Trust, the body which acts as the final arbiter of complaints has upheld a finding against a joke Boyle made on Radio 4 comedy show Political Animal in June 2008 when Boyle compared Palestine with a cake being "punched to pieces by a very angry Jew".

Asked about whether his material pushed boundaries Boyle said: "I don't really f**king buy all that stuff, because whose boundaries? It's like the f**king boundaries of what you're allowed to say in polite society or something, which is like an operetta almost.

"There's nobody in that room there that would be f**king offended by anything and we would struggle to find someone in the street who'd be offended by any of it - admittedly we're in Glasgow.

"There's this thing of some mythical f**king society or average viewer somewhere that's going to be p*ssed off. I think people will find it funny, if they find it. F**k knows if they will or not."

Some of the Edinburgh Fringe’s leading comedians have backed a campaign by Amnesty International to free a Burmese comedian who has been incarcerated for over three decades.

Mark Watson and Josie Long are backing a campaign to free Zarganar, one of Burma’s leading comedians, who has been sentenced for 35 years for criticising the Burmese regime. 

The comedian was held after speaking out against the Burmese government’s poor relief effort in response to Cyclone Nargis which devastated swathes of the country in 2008.

Comedian Mark Watson said: “You can’t do comedy with someone looking over your shoulder telling you what you can and can’t say. And you can’t do it if you’re under constant threat of being sent to prison. Freedom of expression is the most important thing in the world to comedians. 

“I’m supporting Amnesty’s campaign to free Zarganar – he shouldn’t be in prison, he should be onstage telling jokes. I hope everyone at the festival gets behind the campaign.” 

Comedian Josie Long said: “What’s really staggering about Zarganar’s story is that the government ultimately locked him up for doing charity work. To get 35 years for trying to help the survivors of a natural disaster, and criticising the authorities for not doing more, is just ridiculous. 

“Zarganar had already been banned from the stage for doing jokes that criticised Burma’s authorities, but it’s this act of kindness that pushed them over the edge. It’s unbelievable. 

“We need to make as much noise about Zarganar as possible to pressure the Burmese government to release him. No-one should be in prison just for peacefully expressing their views.” 

Zarganar is thought to be in poor health, suffering from heart problems and high blood pressure, but has been denied adequate medical treatment by authorities.

Amnesty is asking people to go to www.amnesty.org.uk/zarganar to download a letter to send to the Burmese authorities demanding Zarganar’s immediate and unconditional release. The organisation is also insisting that he is not to be tortured or otherwise ill-treated, and is given all necessary medical treatment and access to lawyers of his own choosing and access to his family. 

Channel 4’s comedy panel show 8 out of 10 cats is set to take a new twist by adopting a Big Brother theme.

According to TV magazine Broadcast Now, The first episode in the new seven-part series is set to be broadcast on the final day of Big Brother and will feature a number of housemates who had been voted off on each team.

Host Jimmy Carr returns for the new series alongside Jason Manford and Sean Lock, who will be heading up the teams. 

Manager for Eight out of Ten cats producer Zeppotron, said “Ten series of any programme is an achievement, and it’s a credit to everyone who works on the show - both on screen and off - that it is just as funny and fresh as when it started.”

Doubts have been cast over the future of the Edinburgh Comedy Festival after one of its key venue managers voiced concerns over the direction that the venture - and her own venue - were heading.

According to the Herald Scotland, Karen Koren, founder of the Gilded Balloon, the new venture has failed to live up to it’s initial hype and attract a sufficient big money sponsor. 

Koren also took a swipe at some of the fellow Edinburgh Comedy Festival venues, accusing them of being ‘more commerical’ than her own venue.

The Edinburgh Comedy Festival was set-up by four of the biggest Edinburgh Fringe Venues, The Gilded Balloon, The Pleasance, The Underbelly and the Assembly Rooms two years ago in an attempt to attract a major financial backer. 

The move sparked criticism from many sources at the time over whether the new ‘festival within a festival’ was damaging the fringe as a whole and side-lining smaller acts and venues who didn’t take part.

The Edinburgh Comedy Festival promised sponsors an ‘unprecedented opportunity to benefit from an association with a world-class event from inception’.

Speaking to the Herald Koren said: “The fact is we are the smallest of the big four. In the 1990s it was the big three: the Assembly, Pleasance and I hooked up in 1993, and that certainly gave the Gilded Balloon a step up, from the bowels of the Cowgate to being recognised as a place that discovers good comics and so on.

“I am nowhere near as commercial as Assembly and Underbelly for example. However if you can’t beat them, join them.

 “I am personally not in agreement with the Edinburgh Comedy Festival and the other three know that. I think we could have a comic Fringe but the comic fringe should still be part of that Fringe. But that’s maybe not how the others want to do it.”

“We have not managed to get that big sponsorship so, in a way, it has defeated its own purpose. And, whether we like it or not, we are in competition … when it comes to the acts it’s each for its own.”

Read the interview with Karen Koren in the Herald here.

Robin Ince and Josie Long have been signed up by Comedy Central for a second series of Utter Shambles podcast.

The duo are set to embark on the ‘difficult second series’ of their comedy podcast and have lined up Alan Moore as the guest for the first installent this coming Thursday.
 
Future guests also include stand-up comedians Ed Byrne, Stewart Lee and controversial writer of the Guardian’s weekly ‘Bad Science’ column Dr Ben Goldacre.
 
Frequently described as the best comic writer in history, Alan Moore is responsible for legendary works including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, From Hell and The League of Extraordinarily Gentlemen. Notoriously reluctant to make public appearances in any form, Comedy Central are thrilled he chose Utter Shambles to talk about his catalogue of extraordinary work,  upcoming projects and why you should always be kind to people before an apocalypse…
 
The podcasts are set to be available from comedycentral.co.uk and Itunes.

It is the kind of project that would make even the most artent arts and crafts fan quiver with apprehension, a comedy duo at this years Edinburgh Fringe are attempting to produce 5,000 fliers by hand as part of their art-inspired Edinburgh show. 

SSP caught up with the two intrepid art-improvisers 

SSP: What is it like attempting to hand-write 5000 fliers? Have either of you thought of any quirky ideas to make them in a speedy way?

Charlie:  Its pretty daunting. But we've quite a few artist friends who offered to chip in. In fact even non-artists - everyone loves getting a bit crafty. Even so, I'm not sure I could possibly HAND WRITE them all... A lot will be stenciled, graffiti-style. Some will have hand written longer blurbs photocopied and stuck to the back - I still think it counts though as the fronts will still be little works of art.

Robin: It is a big old push... Fortunately, we have some really gifted friends who are going to be all gluey, glittery hands on deck. We might try using our toes and left hands to get them done quicker.

SSP: What do the fliers reveal about their show?

Charlie: Well the nature of the task hopefully makes the flyer a little more engaging... which is what we always try and do in our show. We always try and have poignant as well as funny bits in the story telling elements of the show.

Also, a lot of the show incorporates hand made props - we do shadow-puppetry with hand drawn and hand cut silhouettes. Also, there are video animations in the show, which we've made ourselves quite painstakingly and we hand make some of our costumes too.

Robin: We pay at lot of attention to the aesthetic of our show, we want it to look good and be imaginative. And making things yourself can be a super fun way to do that. We do a lot of work for Gavin Turk's and Deborah Curtis's art collective the House Of Fairy Tales which has been really imspiring. 

SSP: Is hand-made fliers a much more 'Fringey' thing to do?

Charlie: I'd like to think so, if you engage the fantasy that the fringe is made up of struggling performers doing far too much inefficient promotion to get a few more people into their show. It would probably be more 'fringey' to have raised 15 grand and incorporated a budget for a flyering team with an aim of shifting 50'000 during the run.

We couldn't afford to go in the Fringe guide when the deadline came, so that’s why we've got to make sure the flyers we do shift have more impact. There's also a green thing to it as well. When I did a student show a few years ago, we shifted 30'000 flyers. If you multiply that by the 1000s of of shows there are, plus all the guides, free magazines and posters - thats quite a saddening level of waste we generate. Hopefully, by making each flyer a little piece of art, we have at least reduced the extent to which they are disposable.

SSP: You were mentioned by Jarvis Cocker (an ex-art student himself) on his Sunday Service last weekend, a: what did he say and how did you get involved with him??

Charlie: We did a recording with Jarvis as part of his coverage of Port Elliot Festival. We were doing children's stories there with The House Of Fairy Tales, a travelling arts and education circus. We discussed the work they do with families, what its like to work with children, largely how funny they are and then we did an improvised story with him in the way we would normally do with children.

He has come to the House of Fairy Tales a few times which is how we ended up doing the interview. In Glastonbury 2009 the House of Fairy Tales put on an event called Blue Beard's Banquet, where guests were treated to a meal, but also invited into a world where a story unfolded throughout the evening. 

Robin and I hosted it as well as staging a lot of Vic and Bob style games throughout, complete with hand-made props. Jarvis really enjoyed one of these and asked if we could do a personalised one, there at the festival, as part of celebrations for a soon to be married friend. You can't refuse that, and we were really pleased with the party we put together. There may have been a few rockstars there too. That was a pretty special festival experience.

Robin: He was really supportive. he chatted to us about our show and we did an improvised story with him. He rapped in geordie, and was bloody good at it. We met him in Glasto 09 when he asked us to organsie a party for his bandmate stag do. We have met a lot of amazing and talented people through the House of Fairy Tales.

Robin and Partridge are performing as part of the Five Pound Fringe from the 19th - 29th of August. For more information visit www.robinandpartridge.com