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Butt of the joke: Troubled Amy Winehouse shows suspicious cuts on her arm

A dig at Amy Winehouse has been declared the funniest joke of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Comedian Zoe Lyons took top spot and a cash prize after her jibe about the singer was chosen in a public vote.

The one-liner was: 'I can't believe Amy Winehouse self-harms.

'She's so irritating she must be able to find someone to do it for her.'

The comedienne, 33, from Brighton, makes the joke in her show, Mangled Mantra of the Messed-up Modern Mind.

Yesterday, she said: 'I know self-harming is not funny but it's just a joke, so I'm not going to beat myself up about it.'

Miss Lyons, who made her debut in Edinburgh last year, received 12 per cent of the public vote in the inaugural comedy award from TV channel Dave.

Selecting the winner was a long process.

First, ten leading comedy critics trawled through masses of comedy acts at the Festival Fringe and picked out their favourite three jokes.

They sat through an average of 60 comedy performances, which included 3,600 minutes of material and 7,200 puns.

The 30 top choices were put to a vote.

In second place was Andrew Laurence, with his joke: 'Most of us have a skeleton in the cupboard. David Beckham takes his out in public.'

Zoe Lyons with her award for the Winehouse gag