Edinburgh: Day 2

I started my second day with Pippa Evans' Joy Provision. A 2:40pm start, it's a Radio 4 timeslot for a Radio 4 comedian, but it set me up nicely for the rest of the day. Evans is a fine singer and with her backing duo delivered some fine, upbeat satirical songs. Very much job done. Next was Matt Winning. Winning has combined his surrealist sensibilities with a potent message about climate change and what we can do about it from his position as a Research Associate at UCL. Funny and informative.

John Robins' hour "The Darkness Of Robins" pretty much solely focused on his breakup from his long term girlfriend at the end of the year. It was bleak, miserable and utterly hilarious, with a brutally dark set piece to close. Joseph Morpurgo's "Hammerhead" was the best thing I saw this festival though. The premise is a Q and A by Morpurgo after a 9 hour version of Dracula that veers off into all sorts of ludicrous directions. Crammed full of jokes and elaborate technical cues, I couldn't possibly have caught it all and I want to see it again.

I closed the day with an assured hour from Pierre Novellie in which he touched upon his upbringing on the Isle Of Man. He's been on The Mash Report on BBC2 and I wouldn't be surprised if more TV stuff followed.

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