Perrier Awards 2004: The nominees

The shortlist for this year's Perrier Awards has been announced. It includes Sarah Kendall, the first woman to be nominated for nine years. BBC News Online profiles the comedians.

CHRIS ADDISON - CIVILIZATION

Chris Addison returned to the Fringe this year with his new show Civilisation after a number of successful previous appearances.

Chris Addison is a successful writer for radio

Despite being nominated for the Perrier Best Newcomer Award in 1998 for his self-titled debut solo show, it is the first time he has been up for the full award.

He was also nominated for the prestigious Barry Humphries Award in 2002 for Port Out, Starboard Home at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival - the same year he appeared at the Fringe with The Ape That Got Lucky.

On the back of the show's success, Addison was commissioned by the BBC to write and perform a pilot version of The Ape That Got Lucky for Radio 4.

He has also collaborated with comedians John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman to write and record the first series of political comedy show The Department, which aired on BBC Radio 4 in January.

A six-part second series is to be recorded later this year.

SARAH KENDALL

Australian comic Sarah Kendall is the first female performer on the shortlist since Jenny Eclair became the first woman to win the award in 1995.

Sarah Kendall is also an actress

Her show, Sarah Kendall is Well Balanced, at The Pleasance, focusses on her awkwardness in social situations using observational humour and "fun surrealism".

Kendall has also performed sell-out seasons at both Sydney Opera House and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival this year.

In addition to her stand-up, Kendall is also an actress and writer.

Her radio and television credits include: Comedy Central's The World Stands Up, Radio 2's Parson's and Naylor's Pull-Out Sections and Four at the Store on Radio 4.

REGINALD D HUNTER

Dubbed "the Samuel L Jackson of stand-up", the American was also nominated for last year's prize with his comedy routine White Woman.

Hunter has courted controversy at the Fringe

He failed to win, but this year he was back with his brand new show A Mystery Wrapped in A Nigga.

The first black Perrier nominee, Hunter has a reputation for provocation and thoughtfulness and last year was accused of being racist.

His 2004 show has continued to go down well with the critics.

Dominic Maxwell in The Times said Hunter "works his way through some gnarly material with an authoritative swing that leaves most other stand-ups standing".

Hunter also used his show to attack the Richard Pryor Award - a new award to encourage more performers from ethnic minorities to the Fringe - saying it was the wrong way to bring diversity to Edinburgh.

EPITAPH

This relentless exploration of love and loss sees actors Adrian Wenner and Ethan Sandler star in a dark comedy about searching for closure.

Epitaph is a dark comedy about love and death

The two Chicago-based actors blend slapstick, wordplay and the surreal in the show about the aftermath of their perfect woman's death.

The Scotsman said the sketch comedy would "leave you wanting for nothing" while Daily Variety called it "absurdist and high-brow".

Wenner has previously been in sitcoms Becker and Scrubs, and Sandler has appeared in Sex in the City and Will & Grace

The pair met at Northwestern University while Sandler was writing and performing in the campus sketch/satire review, the critically acclaimed Mee-Ow Show.

They also appeared together in a variety of plays including Hamlet and Waiting For Godot.

JACKSON'S WAY

Jackson's Way is a comedy about a motivational speaker whose approach to life celebrates the futility of pointless acts.

Adamsdale's show was described as 'hilariously odd'

Starring international life coach Chris John Jackson - the creation of actor Will Adamsdale - as the enthusiastic but deluded guru, the show is a satire on the world of self-help and corporate jargon.

The Guardian described Jackson's Way as "the Fringe's most exciting new comedy" while The Times said it was "thrillingly, inventively, hilariously odd".

Adamsdale also starred as Jackson at the Fringe last year with Filter Theatre in Faster as part of the British Council Showcase.

As an actor he has performed widely both on stage and television, most notably as Nigel Havers' son in Manchild.