Fil Milton has won the inaugural Cheez-It Cheeziest Joke Award at the 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, claiming a £1,000 cash prize. The Preston-based comedian secured the top spot this August after a public vote with the one-liner: “My brother convinced me to go halves on a used funeral car. I can’t believe I was so easily co-hearsed.”
The new competition emerges to celebrate the “gloriously cheesy” side of comedy, filling a notable gap in the festival’s landscape. For over a decade, UKTV’s channel Dave sponsored the official ‘Funniest Joke of the Fringe’ prize, but the broadcaster pulled out of the competition in 2025, leaving room for new brands to back emerging talent among the damp cobbled streets of the Old Town and crowded, flyer-strewn basement venues.
Milton beat over 130 entries to make a five-joke shortlist. The comic, who has been performing for four years, makes his Edinburgh debut on 22 August with the show Fil Milton… Is a One-Liner Comedian.
“It’s a massive treat,” Milton said of the win. “As a relatively new comedian doing my first show at the Fringe, having this award really helps get the word out about me and my show. It’s really important to highlight individual jokes too – sometimes a little one-liner can get overlooked or dismissed as a dad joke, but they take a lot of effort. I’m really pleased Cheez-It have done it.”
Rui Frias, UK Senior Marketing Manager at Cheez-It, noted the standard of entries was fantastic, adding that the brand has always celebrated the “inner cheesiness in everyone”. The award is part of a broader Fringe partnership, which includes supporting the Keep it Fringe Fund via a Co-op initiative that raised £10,000 for performer grants.
The full 2026 Cheeziest Joke shortlist:
- “When I got diagnosed with indecisiveness, I was in shock and/or…” – Conk
- “My brother convinced me to go halves on a used funeral car. I can’t believe I was so easily co-hearsed.” – Fil Milton
- “I’m looking for a new job. I walked past a mirror shop the other day and thought, ‘Ooh, I could see myself working there.’” – Bróccán Tyzack-Carlin
- “Invisaligns are like the players of the teeth-straightening community – because they’re low commitment and you can see right through them.” – Ruby Carr
- “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will probably start a podcast about fishing.” – Martin Bearne
The Legacy of the Dave Award
Before Cheez-It introduced its cheesy accolade, the benchmark for Fringe one-liners was the Dave ‘Funniest Joke of the Fringe’ award. The TV channel sponsored the prize from 2008 until 2024. Following Dave’s withdrawal from the festival in 2025, the official award came to a close. Here are the winning jokes from the Dave era:
| Year | Comedian | Winning Joke |
| 2024 | Mark Simmons | I was going to sail around the globe in the world’s smallest ship, but I bottled it. |
| 2023 | Lorna Rose Treen | I started dating a zookeeper, but it turned out he was a cheetah. |
| 2022 | Masai Graham | I tried to steal spaghetti from the shop, but the female guard saw me and I couldn’t get pasta. |
| 2021 | Masai Graham | I thought the word “Caesarean” began with the letter “S” but when I looked in the dictionary, it was in the “C” section. |
| 2020 | N/A | Not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| 2019 | Olaf Falafel | I keep randomly shouting out “Broccoli” and “Cauliflower” – I think I might have Florets. |
| 2018 | Adam Rowe | Working at the job centre has to be a tense job – knowing that if you get fired, you still have to come in the next day. |
| 2017 | Ken Cheng | I’m not a fan of the new pound coin, but then again, I hate all change. |
| 2016 | Masai Graham | My dad has suggested that I register for a donor card. He’s a man after my own heart. |
| 2015 | Darren Walsh | I just deleted all the German names off my phone. It’s Hans free. |
| 2014 | Tim Vine | I’ve decided to sell my Hoover – well, it was just collecting dust. |
| 2013 | Rob Auton | I heard a rumour that Cadbury is bringing out an oriental chocolate bar. Could be a Chinese Wispa. |
| 2012 | Stewart Francis | You know who really gives kids a bad name? Posh and Becks. |
| 2011 | Nick Helm | I needed a password eight characters long so I picked Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. |
| 2010 | Tim Vine | I’ve just been on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. I’ll tell you what, never again. |
| 2009 | Dan Antopolski | Hedgehogs. Why can’t they just share the hedge? |
| 2008 | Zoe Lyons | I can’t believe Amy Winehouse self-harms. She’s so irritating she must be able to find someone to do it for her. |
As the late August rain slicks the cobbled streets of the Old Town and the final sodden flyers are swept from the Royal Mile, the Cheez-It Cheeziest Joke Award has successfully carved out its place in the festival’s ecosystem. Whether Milton’s funeral car quip will be remembered alongside the classic Dave winners remains to be seen, but it certainly provided a welcome groan for audiences packed into the damp, echoing basement venues this year. Let us know in the comments below if you spotted any other cheesy gems hiding in the Fringe programme.
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