Day 7 - August 14th - Edinburgh

Whew! What a day! Four comedy shows, and all were terrific. It also meant lots and lots of walking around and queuing and trying to follow the maps.

Edinburgh I am slowly falling in love with. I can understand why people think it's like New Zealand and the weather is often dodgy. But the people here are so friendly and the Scottish accent is so pleasant to listen to. Perhaps that's what I like about the people, the accent that I could bathe in.

The city has, if I believe the publicity, about 2000 performers here for the various parts of the Edinburgh Festival. Comedy gets the big numbers though the Edinburgh Tattoo is also here. And there is also plenty of theatre and music and a book festival too. But these are a little dwarfed by the comedy.

I spend the afternoon at two recordings of Just A Minute, the BBC comedy game show which I love. Nicholas Parsons hosts this and the panels feature Paul Merton, Gyles Brandreth, Shappi Khorsandi, Alun Cochrane, Jason Byrne and Russell Kane. Paul is a big name in Britain and a masterful improviser. Gyles is a great raconteur and a good foil for Paul. The others are less experienced at the game but all have their moments. I really enjoy the shows.

Next up for me is a great name of 50 years of comedy, Barry Cryer. He's sitting on a big armchair, now 76, telling a great collection of old jokes. It's less a coherent show than a performance but Baz has an easy rapport with his mainly elderly audience, and the jokes are pretty good.

I then walk across Edinburgh to the next performance. One good thing about being on holiday is that it compels me to walk. I have put on too much weight recently and the need to walk to places is a very good thing, even if I don't always enjoy it at the time.

The last show today features the comedian Jason Byrne. An Irishman, he's sort of got an original take on audience interaction as he makes jokes out of their banalities. Someone says they come from "Crimond" in an accent and he'll get 10 minutes out of it. Add in what must have been surely at least 300 utterings of the F-word and that's his act. He is a clever witty man and his manic persona and anger are also good fun. It's a different sort of stand-up routine and I did like it.

He had a huge crowd to watch it and I had to queue to get in which I am not a great fan of. I took out my book and read it in the queue but put it away after someone suggested there were not many people reading biographies of Edward Heath in the queues to comedy shows in Edinburgh. What I noticed in this queue - and to be fair - others - was how much the I-phone and related objects has now become ubiquitous. I have a relatively new mobile phone - just bought it last year - but it is so out-of-date really compared with the new gadgrety. I was on a flight in New Zealand a few weeks ago and the guy beside me, the chief executive of a biggish and well-known company, spent the hour working on emails and texts from subordinates the whole time he was on the flight. In this queue the woman in front of me spent the entire half hour sending messages backwards and forwards - some of then at least with the person beside her in the queue. But everyone texts and emails madly these days. I'm old enough to remember when yakking into mobile phones was regarded as a sign you were a wanker. Of course they don't talk into them much any more. It's said the next development in computers will be that they will all be the size of your hand. I'm not sure about watching videos that size - but like my mobile, I am probably out of date.