Brendon Burns Wins IF Comedy Award

So Aussie comedian Brendon Burns has won the top Fringe comedy award with his outrageous show "So I Suppose This Is Offensive Now." It's one of the comedy shows that I managed to see

in the course of the Fringe (see Brendon Burns at Pleasance dome) and with his brand of make-you-squirm, highly charged humour, a bold choice. It will be interesting to see what television makes of him (most award-winners are often in big demand for tv shows) given the current climate of caution in tellyland. Then again, Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen, who Burns has worked with, has beaten a path for him to some extent.

Arthur Smith, an old Fringe favourite (he was first nominated for the comedy award in 1982) was nominated for the act that best captured the comedy spirit of the 2007 Fringe with Arturart At The Institute Of Zoo Logic. I like Arfur. I'm sure he deserves it.

Best Newcomer Award went to Tom Basden, for a show called Won't Say Anything, in which he sings all the time. IF.comedy awards producer Nica Burns (no relation to Brendon) called it "a delightful musical comedy."