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As an Edinburgh newbie, I am not yet jaded to the swarms of tourists that descend on the city every August, so was very excited at being around for the whole month!!

What to do, who to see?! So much choice! Being an unorganised newbie, I didn’t buy any tickets in advance, so when the time came to purchase tickets most of the gigs I had circled in the pages of my Festival Magazine were already sold out. Although disappointing, it meant I picked randomly – which turned out great!

 

Jollyboat

I choose Jollyboat because they were described as being similar to Flight of the Concords – who I love. ‘Pirates of the Karaoke’ also sounded right up my street! A comedy duo of brothers, their show consisted of hysterical nautical themed songs and pirate costumes – a bit geeky with lots of niche references but they had everybody laughing! The show was also free – so I was especially pleased with my random pick!

 

Reginald D. Hunter

I only vaguely know Reginald D. Hunter from appearances on the occasional chat show, so I probably wouldn’t have picked this if I hadn’t been so slow off the mark making festival plans. He was hilarious – intelligent and funny with fantastic insights on what is going on over the pond and being an American expat in the UK. The venue was ‘The Assembly Hall’ – my first time there and it was very impressive!

 

Sam Simmons

I discovered Australian Comedian Sam Simmons though panel shows and love his mix of bizarre music and surreal comedy. His festival show did not disappoint! By far the wackiest and funniest act I saw – he was laugh-out-loud, pee your pants funny and I highly recommend him.

 

I also enjoyed going to George Square for street food almost every night (The ‘I ♥ mac ‘n’ cheese’ shack was my favourite)! But like most Edinburger’s, I am glad it’s over… I’m knackered, I’ve eaten and drunk way too much and I’m just glad I don’t have to make any more difficult decisions about what to do or who to see.