Perrier Award no laughing matter, according to Lee

Published Thursday 11 November 2004 at 15:55 by Jeremy Austin

Comic Stewart Lee is calling for the Perrier Award to be “ignored or banned” because of what he sees as the continually changing entry rules.

Although still regarded as a valuable benchmark of future success, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe award has come under increasing criticism for its rules of entry, which include those referring to the amount of television coverage an act has received. This year one of the nominated shows, Ethan Sandler and Adrian Wenner in Epitaph, was listed as a theatre show rather than comedy while the eventual winner, Jackson’s Way, was performed by Will Adamsdale, who is an established television actor.

Lee said: “The Perrier has definitely changed over the years, which is another reason why it should be at least ignored or banned, because every couple of years the terms change.

“Ultimately it’s about placing the Perrier brand. In the eighties it was stand-up and cabaret, in the nineties people started to do more sketch stuff. Things that previously wouldn’t have been eligible had to become eligible because you still have to place the brand.”

“If something is seen to be out of step with what is being produced, they have to change the rules.”

Last year, the award received criticism after only one of the nominated acts, Howard Read, was British. While some claimed it indicated that British comedy was waning, others voiced concern that the rules concerning television coverage did not take into consideration exposure received by foreign acts abroad.

Said Lee, who wrote and directed Jerry Springer - the Opera: “Last year the journalist spin on it was that four of the five people were international.

“Did this mean that British comedy is losing its edge? Well it doesn’t. What it means is that loads of British comedians who would have been eligible aren’t now because they have been on television.

“Our stand-up circuit is thought to be the best in the world, so performers from other countries come to Edinburgh International Festival in greater numbers. Though some of those may have had a certain level of exposure at home, you are not aware of it and so they still fit the awards’ elastic category.

“The guy in Jackson’s Way was a regular actor in Manchild, a sitcom with Nigel Havers. It was on every week but presumably that doesn’t count. Who knows? It is a mystery.”