Past winners include Aisling Bea, Dylan Moran, Lee Mack, Peter Kay and David O'Doherty.

So You Think You're Funny was the idea of Karen Koren, Artistic Director of The Gilded Balloon, in order to discover new comic talent.

During the years it has developed into the most influential competition of its kind in the UK, helping start the careers of many of the country's leading comedians including Dylan Moran, Lee Mack, Graham Norton, David O'Doherty and Tommy Tiernan.

Past judges have included Steve Coogan, Owen O'Neill, Avid Merrion (Leigh Francis), Bob Mortimer and former So You Think You're Funny winners Dylan Moran and Rhona Cameron.

[1] The competition spun a teenagers’ version entitled Class Clowns, derived from an Australian format of the same name, which was staged at the Gilded Balloon for the first time in 2015.

The competition starts in the spring of each year with showcases in Bristol, Liverpool, Birmingham, York, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow, Inverness, Dublin, Brighton and Nottingham as well as ten comedy clubs in London.

[citation needed] Each showcase is not a direct competition, with judges instead selecting the best acts they have seen over the entire run to take part in one of seven heats at the Gilded Balloon at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August.