The Edinburgh Fringe - Part 2

During our short stay in Edinburgh, we came across a few Scottish stereotypes - loads of bag pipes, a guy dressed as Braveheart, and a ridiculous amount of kilt shops. At first, it was a bit of a joke - obviously it's expected that you'll see a couple of places catering for the kilt-wearing individual, but we stumbled across the first explosion of tartan within two minutes of our arrival. Soon, we realised just how many there are - we were walking past three kilt shops, a whisky shop, two more kilt shops, a shop selling decorative tins of shortbread and haggis...it felt a bit like the big chase in a cartoon where the background is just on a loop.

I couldn't believe that so many of them could stay in business. Maybe I'm just naive, but I didn't think anyone actually bought any of that stuff, apart from genuine Scottish people who need kilts for weddings and big Scottish parties full of other Scottish people wearing kilts. Apparently not. Later, we were sat by an Australian tourist who was clearly loving the traditional attire. She was dressed in a tartan waistcoat and flatcap combo... pretty bold.

Anyway, whilst we embraced the Scottish cliches (not the haggis), we were keen to experience the eclectic nature of the festival. The atmosphere was amazing. The town was bustling with visitors and locals, as well as street performers and people promoting their own shows. We'd only booked a couple of things to see before we got there, so it was difficult to know where to start - when people are throwing leaflets at you and making every single show sound brilliant it can be quite overwhelming! Amongst other things, we chose some great Jazz a cappella and a musical open-mic comedy piece set inside a pub. Really, it was just a room made to look like a pub, and they didn't have a real bar, but I reckon one of the older women in the audience had downed a couple of whiskies before the show. She didn't really have a concept of personal space and kept touching the actors - one was targeted in particular, poor guy. She was a bit odd, but the music was brilliant.

My personal highlights were the two shows we'd booked for the evenings. On our first night, we went to see Simon Amstell's newest stand-up show, Numb. I've been a fan since the Popworld days, but I've only ever seen one recording of him doing stand-up. I'd mainly the seen him presenting Buzzcocks or more recently in his sitcom, Grandma's House, so I was hoping he would live up to my expectations. He definitely did. 'Awkward' is a word often used in reference to Simon, but I don't feel like it's put on or that he plays up to the label, it's just genuinely what he's like. His comedy is self-ridiculing, self-analytical and personal. You come out of the show feeling like he's laid himself bare, but somehow managed to make it hilarious rather than uncomfortable. At the end my cheeks were aching from laughter and I'm even more of a fan now than I was before.

On the last night, we'd booked to see the Blues Brothers. It was such a good way to end our time at the festival - the Brothers and their band were amazing, they cracked out all the classic tunes and the moves to go with them. As Jake and Elwood became sweatier, the trombone player's shirt was getting increasingly more undone, and the audience were getting more and more into it. The 50s moves were coming out and everyone was on their feet. For an hour, we were transported to a rhythm and blues club in Chicago and it was so much fun.

I've never been to Edinburgh before, but I loved it as a city and the Fringe was incredible. For just over three weeks the whole place becomes a hub of creativity, providing hundreds of venues for people to showcase their talent. You have the opportunity to experience so many different things and I can't wait to take advantage by going for a lengthier visit next year.