A standup comedian who works part-time as a care worker on minimum wage has topped a poll of the funniest jokes at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for the second time.

Masai Graham, who works with severely autistic young adults in the English midlands and uses his annual leave to attend the Edinburgh fringe, got the backing of 52 per cent of 2,000 people for his one-liner: “I tried to steal spaghetti from the shop, but the female guard saw me and I couldn’t get pasta.”

The runner-up, with 37 per cent of the vote, was Mark Simmons for his joke: “Did you know, if you get pregnant in the Amazon, it’s next day delivery?”

Olaf Falafel, the winner in 2019, the last full year of the festival due to the Covid pandemic, came in at both third and sixth. Only two of the top 10 jokes were from women.

Dave’s top 10 funniest jokes of Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2022

1 I tried to steal spaghetti from the shop, but the female guard saw me and I couldn’t get pasta — Masai Graham (52 per cent)

2 Did you know, if you get pregnant in the Amazon, it’s next day delivery? — Mark Simmons (37 per cent)

3 My attempts to combine nitrous oxide and Oxo cubes made me a laughing stock — Olaf Falafel (36 per cent)

4 By my age, my parents had a house and a family, and to be fair to me, so do I, but it is the same house and the same family — Hannah Fairweather (35 per cent)

5 I hate funerals. I’m not a mourning person — Will Mars (34 per cent)

6 I spent the whole morning building a time machine, so that’s four hours of my life that I’m definitely getting back — Olaf Falafel (33 per cent)

7 I sent a food parcel to my first wife. FedEx — Richard Pulsford (29 per cent)

8 I used to live hand to mouth. Do you know what changed my life? Cutlery — Tim Vine (28 per cent)

9 Don’t knock threesomes. Having a threesome is like hiring an intern to do all the jobs you hate — Sophie Duker (27 per cent)

10 I can’t even be bothered to be apathetic these days — Will Duggan (25 per cent)

Graham, who is 41, is performing 175 gigs during the 24 days of the festival fringe, according to his Facebook posts. He said the fringe was his “spiritual home” and that he was delighted to win the top spot in the poll organised by the TV channel Dave.

He previously won the award in 2016 with the gag: “My dad suggested I register for a donor card. He’s a man after my own heart.” The day after winning the award, Graham suffered a mild heart attack. He had been “caning Red Bull”, drinking four or five cans every day, he told the London Times. “My heart was racing, I had a pain in my back, and down my arm ... My heart giving out the day after the award for a joke about a donor card would have been the most ironic thing ever.”

On Facebook, Graham said he got into standup after discovering that, in order to be eligible for the funniest gag award, jokes had to be performed rather than just written. “I then spent a year doing open mic, learning the craft, and another year applying for a fringe show. I then named my show 101 Jokes in 30 Minutes to attract the joke judges. It worked!”

The top 10 is voted on by the public from a list of jokes drawn up by a panel of judges who attend hundreds of shows across the fringe. The comedians’ names are omitted from the list. — Guardian