It is edgy, of doubtful taste and resolutely contemporary - a perfect choice for the best joke of this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

A cutting comic jab aimed at the troubled singer Amy Winehouse has been voted the funniest joke of this year's event.

The joke, part of the comic routine of stand-up Zoe Lyons, takes aim at the singer's alleged habit of cutting herself.

The winning one-liner is: "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 33-year-old, from Brighton, makes the joke in her show, Mangled Mantra of the Messed-up Modern Mind, at the Pleasance venue. She scooped the prize in the inaugural comedy award from the new television channel Dave.

Lyons said: "I am absolutely delighted to have won the award. I know self-harming is not funny but it's just a joke, so I'm not going to beat myself up about it."

She received almost 12% of the public vote and takes home the Dave Award for the Funniest Joke of the Fringe.

Selecting the winner was a lengthy process.

First, 10 of the UK's leading comedy critics trawled through the mass of comedy acts at the Festival Fringe and picked out their favourite three jokes.

It is estimated that the judges sat through an average of 60 different comedy performances, which included 3600 minutes of material.

The 30 top choices were then put to the public, and from 2000 votes, Lyons's gag came out on top.

Lyons made her debut at Edinburgh last year with her solo show Fight or Flight, and she was nominated for a prestigious If.Comedy Best Newcomer award last year.

Lyons first came to prominence on the comedy scene in 2004 when she reached the finals of Channel 4's So You Think You're Funny Award.

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."

Also in the final selection was Tim Vine, with: "Velcro. What a rip-off."

The main comedy prize of the Fringe - the If.Comedy awards, previously known as the Perrier Award - will announce its winner tomorrow night.

The four shortlisted stand-up acts for the main prize - who are competing for £8000 and the chance to headline at the Intelligent Finance Comedy Award show in London's West End - are David O'Doherty, Kristen Schaal and Kurt Braunohler, Rhod Gilbert and Russell Kane.

Finalists for the Best Newcomer category are Mike Wozniak, Pippa Evans and Sarah Millican.

The Fringe comes to a close this weekend, and the final tally of tickets sold - which is often regarded as a barometer of its success - is to be announced on Monday morning.

Insiders said yesterday that despite the bad weather, the popularity of the Olympic Games on television and the box-office problems experienced by the Fringe, sales are likely to be almost as high as last year, which was recorded as 1.7 million tickets sold.

Top 10 funniest Top 10 funniest jokes from the Festival Fringe, according to new TV channel Dave: 1. Zoe Lyons: "I can't believe Amy Winehouse self-harms. She's so irritating she must be able to find someone to do it for her."

2. Andrew Laurence: "Most of us have a skeleton in the cupboard. David Beckham takes his out in public."

3. Lloyd Langford: "My girlfriend said did you know that hippopotamuses kill more people every year than guns?'. Yes,' I said, but a gun is easier to conceal'."

4. Josie Long: "When I was a kid I asked my mum what a couple was and she said oh, two or three'. And she wonders why her marriage didn't work."

5. Tim Vine: "Velcro. What a rip-off."

6. Stephen Grant: "The Scots invented hypnosis, chloroform and the hypodermic syringe - wouldn't it be easier just to talk to a woman?"

7. Edward Aczel: "So far Bird Flu has only killed 47 people. By the time it ends, it's going to have killed 37 million. It's got to get going, hasn't it, if it's going to be the pandemic we've all been hoping for."

8. Joan Rivers: "Grandchildren can be f***ing annoying. How many times can you go And the cow goes moo and the pig goes oink?' It's like talking to a supermodel."

9. Tom Stade: "I like Jesus but he loves me, so it's awkward."

10. Jeff Kreisler: "People were outraged because of Barack Obama's spiritual adviser. I think it's great he had one. Who was George Bush's spiritual adviser? Jim Beam? Johnnie Walker? Jack Daniels?"