Comedian's 'Job Centre' Edinburgh Fringe joke was one of the most savage ever

Today, Adam Rowe is one of the most successful comedians in the UK, having already won several awards for his stand-up act as well as his podcast.

Back in 2018, however, it was his award win for the best joke at that year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival which really propelled him into the mainstream for the very first time.

The popular comedy festival, which takes places every August in the Scottish capital, has been the launching pad for some of the biggest names in comedy today, including Russell Brand, Steve Coogan and Miranda Hart.

For the past decade, the Fringe has also given out an award to the comic who tells the best joke across all 25 days - as it was in 2018.

That year, a 26-year-old rising talent would experience a real career break-through, partly thanks to his savage joke which ended up winning the coveted award.

As the BBC reports, supported by 41 percent of the 2,000 votes that came in from the public, Rowe's winning joke was: "Working at the Jobcentre has to be a tense job - knowing that if you get fired, you still have to come in the next day."

His gut-busting gag won out ahead of jokes told by the likes of Justin Moorhouse and Daniel Audritt.

As Rowe recounts, he couldn't quite believe he'd won when the news came through.

"I thought my agent was lying. He rang me and told me I couldn't tell anyone for a week which has been almost impossible," the 30-year-old said at the time.

"I'm massively taken aback by it, I've never seen myself as being in the running for things like this."

Rowe added that the joke itself came from a chance audience interaction that year, as part of his Undeniable show.

"I was doing the usual compering thing...asking people what they do for a living," he said.

"A guy said he worked in the Jobcentre and I said the joke that has now won the award.

"Because it got such a nice reaction on the night I thought I had to do something with it as a line. I didn't expect to be winning an award for what was essentially a brain fart."

Earlier this year, Rowe further enhanced his reputation as one of Britain's most loved comics by winning an award for the best club comedian, while his podcast Have A Word also collected a prize at the 2022 chortle awards.

As for this year's best joke award at the Fringe, that distinction went to Masai Graham, a stand-up from West Bromwich.

"I tried to steal spaghetti from the shop, but the female guard saw me and I couldn’t get pasta," he cleverly quipped at this year's Festival.

Now in its 13th year, previous winners of the award also include Tim Vine, Ken Cheng, Rob Auton, Stewart Francis, Zoe Lyons and Nick Helm.