'Hoover' joke named best at Edinburgh Fringe

Tim Vine has topped the one-line joke contest at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Photo/Getty

Comedian Tim Vine dusted off his joke book and cleaned up at this year's Edinburgh Fringe when his one-liner was voted the funniest wisecrack of the festival.

Vine, 47, saw his joke scoop almost a fifth of the votes in the competition run by comedy television channel Dave.

He won with the one-liner: "I decided to sell my Hoover ... well it was just collecting dust."

It is the first time the award has been presented to a previous winner.

Vine triumphed in 2010 with the joke: "I've just been on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. I'll tell you what, never again."

He was also runner up in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

On being crowned this year's winner, Vine said: "I'm a little bit surprised but very delighted. This is the second time I've won this award, but I guess nobody loves a repeat more than Dave."

Steve North, general manager of Dave, said: "It's great to see a range of established and new comedians in this year's top 10. The award celebrates the fantastic range of comedy on offer at the Fringe, and Tim has once again proved he is king of the one-liners."

To find the favourite joke, 10 judges scoured the festival's venues for a week before nominating their three favourite jokes.

They were then put to the public voted, with 2000 people choosing the 10 they found funniest.

Three female comedians also feature in this year's top 10 as jokes from Bec Hill, Ria Lina and Felicity Ward tickled the nation's funny bone, reflecting the overall reported 62 per cent rise of women performing at this year's Fringe on last year.

1. "I've decided to sell my Hoover ... well, it was just collecting dust" - Tim Vine.

2. "I've written a joke about a fat badger, but I couldn't fit it into my set" - Masai Graham.

3. "Always leave them wanting more, my uncle used to say to me. Which is why he lost his job in disaster relief" - Mark Watson.

4. "I was given some Sudoku toilet paper. It didn't work. You could only fill it in with number 1s and number 2s" - Bec Hill.

5. "I wanted to do a show about feminism. But my husband wouldn't let me" - Ria Lina.

6. "Money can't buy you happiness? Well, check this out, I bought myself a Happy Meal" - Paul F Taylor.

7. "Scotland had oil, but it's running out thanks to all that deep frying" - Scott Capurro.

8. "I forgot my inflatable Michael Gove, which is a shame 'cause halfway through he disappears up his own a***hole" - Kevin Day.

9. "I've been married for 10 years, I haven't made a decision for seven" - Jason Cook.

10. "This show is about perception and perspective. But it depends how you look at it" - Felicity Ward

Honourable mentions

"I go to the kebab shop so much that when they call me boss in there it's less a term of affection, more an economic reality" - Ed Gamble.

"Leadership looks fun, but it's stressful. Just look at someone leading a conga" - James Acaster.

"I bought myself some glasses. My observational comedy improved" - Sara Pascoe.

- PAA