Winners of the 2025 Edinburgh Comedy Awards have been announced, with comedian Sam Nicoresti (pictured above) becoming the first trans woman to win the coveted prize for Best Comedy Show. Nicoresti joins previous winners including Sam Campbell, Rose Matafeo and David O’Doherty.

Nicoresti’s Baby Doomer is about life as a trans woman and is ‘the story of the journey home, about losing your mind, finding it again and the hunt for the perfect skirt suit.’ We loved Baby Doomer and gave it five stars, writing: ‘Nicoresti is an incredible comedian. The monologue is nuanced, self-deprecating, dirty, creative and accomplished. This show is bursting beautifully at the seams.’

The Birmingham comedian said she was ‘super excited’ to win the award, adding ‘I did this for the queers making weird art, and it's a privilege to share this moment with the first all female line-up of award winners.’ 

Joining Nicoresti on this line-up is Best Newcomer Award winner Ayoade Bamgboye. Her much-anticipated debut show Swings And Roundabouts draws on the comedian’s experience moving from Nigeria to London. 

We gave Swings And Roundabouts four stars, and said: ‘Making use of a purposeful lack of direction, Swings And Roundabouts somehow pulls off careering from bleak moments of emotional instability to pastiche performances with impeccable delivery. Bamgboye could have undoubtedly kept us basking in her balmy comedy for hours.’

The comedian was in tears on winning the award, which has previously launched the careers of comics as varied as Harry Hill, Sarah Millican and John Kearns. Bamgboye is the first black woman to win the Best Newcomer Award. 

She said: ‘The reception has been better than I could have dreamed. To be recognised in this way is just the start of something – not just for me but for people who look like me.’

Nica Burns, director of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, said the winners ‘remind us why the Fringe matters’ and capture the spirit of modern comedy.

Burns continued: ‘Sam Nicoresti's Baby Doomer is a masterfully woven, polished and delightfully human show that captures an essential moment with, to paraphrase her words, laughs by the seconds.

‘Ayoade Bamgboye's debut hour is electric, constantly keeping you on your toes. She delivers it all with remarkable charisma and presence. Ayoade has a brilliant future ahead of her.’

The Victoria Wood Award for shows which best embody the ‘true spirit of the Fringe’ was presented to Comedy Club 4 Kids, which runs children’s standup shows and workshops.

Sam Bryant, chair of the judging panel, spoke of the importance of ensuring new young audiences get the ‘live comedy bug’ and realise that comedy is for everyone, whatever their backgrounds.

‘This year's Victoria Wood Foundation prize is going to an organisation that's spent the last 20 years dedicated to exactly that idea. This Award will help fund Comedy Club 4 Kids’ Community Interest Company, which will create comedy workshops and shows right here in Edinburgh, with a specific remit to increase access for kids from lower-income backgrounds.’

One of the most prestigious prizes in the world of comedy, the Edinburgh Comedy Awards is in its 45th year and has nurtured and established the careers of leading comedians. The 2003 Best Newcomer nominee, Alex Horne, created the BAFTA award-winning TV series Taskmaster, which has had appearances from 40 winners and nominees across its 20 series.

Main picture: Talie Eigeland.