After a quarter of a century of celebrating comedy at its biggest festival, battling controversy linked to its parent company Nestle, and earning the reputation of being “the Oscars of comedy”, The Perrier Awards have under gone a change of hands.
The awards, henceforth to be known as the if.comeddies (already nicknamed “The Eddies” by some members of the press) is sponsored by bank Intelligent Finance. The name of the awards combines the initials of the company, allusion to the word ‘comedy’ and a nod to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Intelligent Finance has signed a three year deal to sponsor the awards but have indicated that they are dedicated to sponsoring the award in the long term. They have also announced changes to the awards, including an increase in prize money and a support program for young comedians called “Grassroots”. There will be more announcements made in the near future, with intimation that an extra award will be announced to sit alongside the two awards currently being handed out.
The list of winners of previous Perrier Awards displays a prestigious lineage of comedy, from it’s first recipients in 1981 Cambridge Footlights (including Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie) through to Eddie Izzard, Dylan Moran and Australians Lano & Woodley and Tim Minchin. The awards will continue to be coordinated by their current produced Nica Burns.
The official website for the new awards is launched on Monday 19th January.