Chinese comedian wins Edinburgh joke of the year

LONDON, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- British born Chinese comedian Ken Cheng has won one of the most coveted prizes of the famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival, local media reported Tuesday.

His one-line quip was judged to be the best joke of the festival. In a media interview Tuesday, Cheng said he was surprised to win the accolade.

Cheng's joke, "I'm not a fan of the new pound coin, but then again, I hate all change", had most people laughing in a public poll of the funniest jokes of the 2017 event.

He coined the play on words after the British government announced plans for the country's first ever 12-sided coin in 2014.

Cheng's joke won 33 percent of a public vote on a shortlist of funny gags picked by comedy critics. He described his coin joke as a "groaner".

"Audiences tend to groan at it a lot. I'm generally going after laughs, but I'll take the groan," Cheng said in a radio interview.

Media reports said Cheng studied maths at Cambridge University for a year before dropping out to play online poker professionally. But he got a big break on the comedy circuit when he reached the finals of a new comedy award.