The winning joke was: “I tried to steal spaghetti from the shop, but the female guard saw me and I couldn’t get pasta.”
Masai Graham is the comic behind the joke, which was vote for by 52% of 2,000 members of the public. Graham also works part-time as a care worker with severely autistic young adults in the West Midlands.
He also won the same accolade in 2016, with the joke: “My dad suggested I register for a donor card – he’s a man after my own heart.”
Edinburgh Fringe returned for the first time in three years.
In response to his 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.”
There are some strong contenders among the top ten funniest jokes at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, but at risk of me killing the punchline, here they are in full:
1. Masai Graham: I tried to steal spaghetti from the shop, but the female guard saw me and I couldn’t get pasta.
2. Mark Simmons: Did you know, if you get pregnant in the Amazon, it’s next-day delivery.
3. Olaf Falafel: My attempts to combine nitrous oxide and Oxo cubes made me a laughing stock.
4. Hannah Fairweather: 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.
5. Will Mars: I hate funerals – I’m not a mourning person.
6. Olaf Falafel: I spent the whole morning building a time machine, so that’s four hours of my life that I’m definitely getting back.
7. Richard Pulsford: I sent a food parcel to my first wife. FedEx.
8. Tim Vine: I used to live hand to mouth. Do you know what changed my life? Cutlery.
9. Sophie Duker: Don’t knock threesomes. Having a threesome is like hiring an intern to do all the jobs you hate.
10. Will Duggan: I can’t even be bothered to be apathetic these days.
Speaking of the awards, 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.”
To have a read of our full reviews of Edinburgh Fringe shows, click here.
