The 2008 Malcolm Hardee Award for comedy has been presented to Edward
Aczel, former project manager for a marketing company in Aylesbury,
who once heckled Malcolm at a London University gig.
The Award is for "comic originality of thought or performance" at the
Edinburgh Fringe. It commemorates anarchic comedian and club owner
Malcolm Hardee, the late 'godfather of alternative comedy' known for
spotting and encouraging comic talent including Keith Allen, Jo Brand,
Jenny Eclair, Harry Enfield, Harry Hill, Paul Merton, Al Murray, Vic
Reeves, Jerry Sadowitz, Jim Tavare and Johnny Vegas.
Malcolm drowned in 2005. An award will be made in his memory annually
until 2017.
The Award was introduced by TV comedy star Omid Djalili and presented
by Malcolm Hardee's son Frank and sister Clare during the "Late 'n'
Live" show at the Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh, in the early hours of
Saturday 23rd August.
A surprise 2007 Malcolm Hardee Award was given retrospectively to
controversial musical act Doktor CocaColaMcDonalds.
The two winners received trophies but no financial prize. In a break
from normal Award presentation tradition and to fully honour the
memory of Malcolm Hardee, the winners were instead asked to lend each
of the judges £50 for an indeterminate length of time. Negotiations on
this part of the Award are said to be continuing.
There are downloadable hi-res photos of Malcolm, Edward and the Doktor on
http://www.malcolmhardee.co.uk/pressphotos
Background on Edward Aczel:
http://www.chortle.co.uk/comics/e/549/edward_aczel/biography/
Tom Searle - 07941-766608
[email protected]
Background on Doktor CocaColaMcDonalds:
http://www.myspace.com/doktorcocacolamcdonalds
Sarah Niblock - 020-7935-5500 + 07973324412
[email protected]
The five 2008 nominees were:
Edward Aczel
Peter Buckley Hill
Aindreas de Staic
The Edinburgh Fringe Box Office - for introducing surreal humour into
the normally dull ticketing process
Otto Kuhnle
Further background on the Malcolm Hardee Award:
http://www.malcolmhardee.co.uk/award
CONTACT:
John Fleming - 07836-703504
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