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Another day, another Festival Café live from in Edinburgh. Volunteers Catriona and Melanie tell us more...

Catriona MacLeod:

Today's Fact Part One: is tiny in person. Today's Fact Part Two: stage managing is a big headache, especially when you get a double bass involved, and a headset that won't stay in one place. In other news, I haven't been able to finish a book in months and, after hearing him talk about it, I'm thinking 's "The Slap" might just break this dry spell in my reading habits. The David Cassidy-loving cast of "Could It Be Forever" made me think of my first celebrity crush (it was, and still is, - and I don't care what anyone thinks). Finally, every budding actor needs to see a show entitled "Naked, Live & Never Again: My Last Discourse on Dramatic Method," which is a lesson in the art of drama from Andrew Hawkin's creation Jack Treadwell. What a mix. Roll on Friday.

Melanie Morides:

What another great show! We had singers, actors, a novelist and a rap artist on stage today. As you can imagine, witnessing the mixture of talent on stage was very exciting.

Christos Tsiolkas talked about his new novel called The Slap, and he revealed how he was inspired to write the story because of an incident that happened in the kitchen at his family house. He had the whole audience captivated with his story telling. Although Christos is Australian, his Greek roots were evident when he described the way his mother shouted "stamata" (which means stop in Greek) to the little boy opening cupboards in the kitchen whilst she was trying to cook. Of course the boy gets a "slap" for annoying his mother .This is the incident that inspired Christos to write his novel.

was utterly hilarious with his one man show called the Rap Guide to Human Nature. I don't think I've ever heard anyone explaining the complexities of human nature by rapping! I loved the way he managed to relate the clubbing experience to human reproduction. How is this possible? If you want a fun way to understand this process, then Baba is the man!

I also thought Frances Ruffelle was not only beautiful but her voice was incredible and I loved the way she oozed confidence on stage.

Another interesting part of the show today was an extract from a play called Could it be forever? The actresses Victoria Willing, Lucie Fitchett and Frances Lima had the audience in stitches as they pretended to be their teenage selves and in love with David Cassidy. And of course I have to mention actor Andrew Hawkins, son of the great British actor , who talked about what it was like to grow up with such a famous father.

Overall I really enjoyed the show today and can't wait for tomorrow!

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:
Top left: Sassy soul songstress Frances Ruffelle and Andy Robb on double bass getting the crowd in the mood at the EICC
Top right: Fringe favourite Canadian actor and rap artist Baba Brinkman with his Rap Guide to Human Nature. Utterly brilliant!
Middle right: (L-R) Frances Lima, Victoria Willing, Lucie Fitchett performing an extract from their show "Could It Be Forever"
Bottom right: Frances Ruffelle wowing the audience with her husky tones
Bottom left: Acting guru and founder of the Naked School of Acting Andrew Hawkins joined Janice on the couch to talk about bad acting!
Middle left: Author of "The Slap" Christos Cholkas talks to Janice about the origins of the book ahead of his appearance at the upcoming Book Festival
Photographs by Fiona Carlyle

Keep checking out the blog for photos from the show, and if you missed the action then you can find it right here at Radio Scotland online. Just follow the links to The Festival Café. You can also follow The Festival Café on for all the latest on their guests.