MALCOLM HARDEE AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED
EDINBURGH FRINGE 2010
The winners of the annual Malcolm Hardee Awards have been announced. The Awards are being presented until the year 2017 in memory of the late “godfather of British alternative comedy”, a man with an eye for talent and pranks. When he drowned in 2005, the Independent wrote that he had been “the greatest influence on British comedy over the last 25 years”. He helped, advised and often borrowed money from – among many others - Keith Allen, Jo Brand, Jenny Eclair, Harry Enfield, Harry Hill, Paul Merton, Al Murray, Vic Reeves, Jerry Sadowitz and Johnny Vegas.
The Malcolm Hardee Awards were presented in Edinburgh around midnight last night, Friday 27th August, during the nightly “Shaggers” show at the Three Sisters in Cowgate, as part of the Laughing Horse Free Festival. The three 2010 winners are:
THE MALCOLM HARDEE AWARD FOR COMIC ORIGINALITY
ROBERT WHITE for his enthusiastic unconventionality and for being (in his own words) “the only gay, Aspergers, quarter Welsh, webbed-toed, dyslexic pianist debuting this Fringe”.
THE MALCOLM HARDEE ‘ACT MOST LIKELY TO MAKE A MILLION QUID’ AWARD
(first time this new annual award has been made)
BO BURNHAM – When the 20-year-old American comic was nominated for the inaugural Malcolm Hardee ‘Act Most Likely to Make a Million Quid’ Award, his London PR company – whose clients include a wealth management company and an insurance broking, risk assessment and financial services company – wrote to the Malcolm Hardee Award organisers saying of Bo: “making money is not what he’s driven by at all and (we) don’t think he’d be at all comfortable with receiving this award.”
As a result, the Malcolm Hardee judges asked the PR to ask Bo to lend them £500 or £1,000 and additionally nominated him for their main Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality because “for a modern day stand-up comic not to be interested in money is entirely original”.
In a subsequent personal e-mail, following an online piece by PR guru Mark Borkowski (who is NOT Bo’s PR):
Bo said he had not known of his own PR’s response and “I am a very big fan of Malcolm Hardee. In America, I’ve worshipped Andy Kaufman and had found Malcolm in trying to research other anti-comics and for you guys to nominate me for that award, and then take the piss out of me when my someone said that I don’t do this (my JOB) for money, is honestly, an absolute honor… I am a large fan of anti-establishment anti-comedy, so i really wanted to contact you to say that I am a big fan of Malcolm and an even bigger fan of the ideas that you are embracing… Yes. I care about money but I do kind of hate myself for it.”
THE MALCOLM HARDEE CUNNING STUNT AWARD
(for best Fringe publicity stunt)
STEWART LEE who, while complaining about the former Perrier now Foster’s Award
incidentally, almost accidentally, promoted Japanese act the Frank Chickens who were not performing at this year’s Fringe. As a result, they actually did come up to Edinburgh to perform at the Fringe for the first time in 25 years – at a show promoting Stewart Lee’s new book. The fact that Stewart did not intend to unleash publicity does not negate his success. Malcolm Hardee would have been proud of him.
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THE MALCOLM HARDEE DOCUMENTARY
Separate from the Awards, The Malcolm Hardee Documentary Preview will screen in Edinburgh today (Saturday 28th August) 1520-1620 at the Newsroom venue in Leith Street (east end of Princes Street). The screening comprises a 32 minute documentary The Tunnel about Malcolm’s most notorious comedy club; and 17 minutes of clips from the currently-in-production 90-minute documentary Malcolm Hardee: All The Way From Over There. It is hoped the completed 90-minute documentary will be screened at next year’s Fringe. Contact for the documentaries (not for the Malcolm Hardee Awards) is producer Naomi de Pear: 07897-414801.
The Pantry Shelf is a satirical comedy that takes place in any ordinary pantry shelf. Characters are food items most of us have readily available. The story follows the addition of a revolutionary new snack to the shelf: Queenie, a quinoa, date and bark bar. Queenie discovers that her healthy branding doesn’t accurately represent what’s actually inside. The comedy explores branding, consumerism and the corporate control of our diets. It’s also a “love story between a quinoa bar, a bag of Scottish porridge and a sexy block of dark chocolate,” about staying true to yourself.
