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Fred at the Fest: Day 7

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Simone Byrne Simone Byrne | 12:40 UK time, Wednesday, 24 August 2011

Fiona McKay provides an update of her second week, working as a production runner for MacAulay and Co. at the Edinburgh Festival.

Runner: Fiona McKay

Runner: Fiona McKay

In my last blog entry, I assured everyone that I was going to leave the jokes to the professionals. But now back as a runner for a second week, I'm afraid to say I haven't been keeping my word. It seems that being surrounded by such a high calibre of funny people, I just can't help joining in. There was a collective groan from the other runners when I joked about the possibilities of 'comic fatigue,' but that's certainly not the case for the team at MacAulay & Co.


Because the show takes place in the morning, we runners are usually finished up fairly early and this gives us time to complete other duties (like blogging) so we can then squeeze in as many shows as possible. We've been lucky enough to immerse ourselves in all the comedy that the Fringe can offer, checking out new shows and following the buzz about particular comedians and guests. And that's usually how we begin our day: buzzing in to the production office, asking who saw what the night before and which of our favourites are on that show today.

Fred and Tom Rosenthal

Fred and Tom Rosenthal

So there were a few firm favourites in the line-up on day two, week two of Fred's show. Cave Woman and ITV's Show Me the Funny finalist Tiffany Stevenson was up first and got the audience going with tales of leopard-print maternity hotpants. Following on, we had comic offerings from Delete the Banjax and were all a bit taken with Tom Rosenthal (with Fred taking a particular liking to his shirt) and Bournemouth-loving Gareth Richards. Imran Yusuf then endeared himself to the audience with his introspective and life-affirming comedy and Carey Marx had everyone laughing in agreement with his story of train-time eavesdropping and that loud person on the phone we always end up sitting beside.

Tiffany Stevenson, Imran Yusuf, Carey Marx

Tiffany Stevenson, Imran Yusuf and Carey Marx

Sofa time with Fred was with Andy Zaltzman, Paul Sinha and busybody Shazia Mirza. The chat with these comics ranged all over today, taking in the riots, cricket and even Osama Bin Laden and that video collection. But Fred kept the talk from getting too blue, as he said, and Susan Calman was on hand throughout to speak to the audience. Today, the theme was around times you've been nosy and kudos to the wedding-crasher in the audience who shared all! As Susan claimed, that's one of the best stories we've had on air yet.

Shazia Mirza, Paul Sinha and Andy Zaltzman

Shazia Mirza, Paul Sinha and Andy Zaltzman

It's a bit sad to think that this is the last week. The time has really flown in, but there are certainly more great guests and highlights over the next few days. And I'll apologise to my nearest and dearest, as my bad jokes will keep on coming for a while yet.

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