Home » Features » The Etties: Best Comedy Shortlist

The Etties: Best Comedy Shortlist

The Everything Theatre Fringe Theatre Awards, or Etties for short, are simply our fun round up of the past year. Previously, come the end of the year we’ve asked our reviewers to pick some highlights which we would publish as a round up of the best of the year. But in 2022 we decided we should do things a little differently. And that led us to the Etties.

Obviously we don’t have a team of assessors to go and watch every show, so we aren’t going to pretend these are anything more than a fun way to highlight some of the shows our team have loved in the past year. The shortlists have been put together by looking back at our 4- and 5-star reviews, and then with the help of some of our reviewers, whittling them down to a shortlist. It’s not the most scientific approach but what awards ever are?

We’ll be announcing the winners on Wednesday 18 January as part of our Runn Radio show that evening.


The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much

The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much
Photo credit @ Jake F Wadley

Omnibus Theatre, March 2022

I can’t remember the last time I came out of the theatre wanting to book to see the same show again.

Dave B

Project Dictator

Photo credit @ De Giglio

New Diorama Theatre, April 2022

Project Dictator was outrageously energetic and terrifyingly audience-inclusive. Given the starting point of talking to artists who live under oppressive regimes, it was both worryingly hilarious and seriously worrying.

Dean Wood

Qrumpet

Camden People’s Theatre, April 2022

Qrumpet draws deeply from the ideas of 20th-century absurdism – at times feeling like an Ionesco for the modern day – and applies them to the weirdest scientific theories of our time

Matt Aldridge

Experiment Human

Credit: Michael O’Reilly

Cockpit Theatre, July 2022

Experiment Human is an extremely well made, bold, unique, surreal comedy that explores the things that make us human, and what makes us happy.

Aaron-Lee Eyles

Crone

The Hope Theatre, August 2022

The tone is set almost before the first sentence is completed, leaving us laughing at the absurdity of it all.

Rob Warren

Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story

Photo credit @ Dave Bird

The Pleasance, November 2022

Oh Linus, you extraordinary beast you. This is a magnificent piece of work – whacky, wayward and totally unique. If Diana is looking down now I am certain she’ll be joining in the fun!

Mary Pollard

Winners will be announced on 18 January.

About Everything Theatre

Everything Theatre is proud to support fringe theatre, not only in London but beyond. From reviews to interviews, articles and even a radio show, our work is at the heart of the industry, and we are official assessors for the Off West End OffComm awards. Founded in 2011 as a pokey blog run by two theatre enthusiasts, today we are staffed by diverse contributors - people who not only work in theatre, but also in law, medicine, marketing and even psychiatry! We are all united by our love for theatre.