Lounica Maureen Patricia “Nica” Burns, the much-loved and influential theatre doyenne, has warned this week that the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Award) that she’s produced and directed since 1984 may get canned this year unless someone stumps up the £200,000 it costs to run. Chief executive and comedian-owner of Nimax Theatres, Burns’s contribution to the growth of the Edinburgh Fringe (3,334 shows in 2022) over four decades can hardly be overstated – her winners list is a who’s who of British comedy including Frank Skinner, Harry Hill, Sarah Millican, Rose Matafeo and more. Burns has personally sponsored it twice just to keep the show on the road. No wonder Shona McCarthy, chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, is hoping Burns’s latest wheeze – to turn the initiative into a charity in the hope of cobbling together the cash from several, smaller backers – will keep the lols, and the punters, coming.
Photograph Alamy
