A second Comedy Award nomination in a row for Kettering native Acaster, whose meticulous-bordering-on-anally-retentive approach to trivial subjects is fast establishing him as an Edinburgh institution. Now 28, the V-neck-wearing comedian came to prominence supporting Josie Long and Milton Jones on national tours – before last year’s fringe offering (topics included cow-based meteorology and research into bread) propelled him into the big time. This year’s show Lawnmower has nothing to do with lawnmowers, and finds Acaster worrying away at mariachi music, nursery rhymes, and Yoko Ono’s treatment by the Beatles. Photograph: Ed Moore/PR
Christie has been the only shoo-in on this year’s list. She’s no newcomer, and for years was a well-loved oddity on the comedy circuit, known for surreal, whimsical solo shows in which she appeared as an ant, as Charles II, or hurtling across the stage in a Popemobile made from a shopping trolley. That’s all changed, mainly since the broadcast of her Radio 4 series about feminism, Bridget Christie Minds the Gap. Her nominated show A Bic for Her (named after the "gender-specific" ballpoint pen) is an impassioned attack on sexism, even as it retains the clownish charms that have always made Christie such fun to watch. Photograph: Murdo Macleod for the Guardian
“This show isn’t really about anything,” is how Carl Donnelly introduces his new show. Donnelly is an old-school standup; one of two on the list (alongside Seann Walsh) for whom victory would represent a return to traditional values. No themes, no gimmicks, just jokes and funny stories. Donnelly made his Edinburgh debut in 2006 and was nominated in the best newcomer category in 2009. Now 31, is a familiar TV face (to some) from Russell Howard’s Good News and Mock the Week. He’s also an enthusiast for punning show titles, as this year’s offering – Now That's What I Carl Donnelly – proves. Photograph: PR
In One Man Mega-Myth, the belligerent rock-comic Helm bemoans his fall from grace since being shortlisted for 2011’s Edinburgh comedy award. In the same year, his Snow White and the Seven Dwarves quip won Dave’s funniest joke of the fringe bauble. Now, Helm is back among the prizes, his larynx two years more knackered, his sweary, shouty, sad-sack persona as much the acquired taste as ever. Helm also plays acoustic guitar and sings, often backed by the Helmettes, which until recently included last year’s Best Newcomer nominee David Trent. Photograph: PR
A well-deserved debut from Britain’s answer to the Pajama Men, a double-act who shape-shift between dozens of characters. Last year’s Ocean’s Eleven spoof Con Artists was technically brilliant, and a bit inconsequential – though it was nominated for Australia’s top comedy gong. Its follow-up, The Reunion, about a school get-together ten years on, has more heart. M&I have bagged an Edinburgh Comedy Award in the past. In 2011, their side project The Wrestling – a jawdropping collision of comedy and professional bouts – won the Panel Prize for capturing the elusive “spirit of the fringe”.
Photograph: Murdo Macleod for the Guardian
Classic standup from the Brighton boy, who’s aiming squarely at Michael McIntyre-style mass appeal. Only 26, Walsh won the Chortle best newcomer award in 2009, and this year has created two new shows – a sitcom and a sketch/standup offering – with the Comedy Central channel. Walsh’s 2012 show Seann to be Wild focused on binge drinking. His latest, The Lie-In King (oof), addresses his lazy lifestyle. He’s not doing badly for someone so work-averse: whether or not he bags this year’s comedy award, a future of arena-level standup surely beckons. Photograph: PR
No Edinburgh comedy award shortlist would be complete without a moustachioed entertainer telling mother-in-law jokes for an hour, right? Wrong. Mike Wozniak has plundered comedy’s past, creating a show that deploys retro tropes (the mum-in-law gags; the spangly curtain; the frilly shirt) and takes them in interesting, neurotic directions. A former junior doctor and joke-writer for various TV panel shows, Portsmouth-born Wozniak is another former best bewcomer nominee (2008) and Time Out new act of the year award. This is his first appearance on the main shortlist, and he’s a long shot. Photograph: Scott Campbell/Getty Images
