COMEDY: GIG OF THE WEEK

Phil Kay tonight La Belle Angele, Edinburgh

Phil Kay is one of the best off-the-cuff performers in the business. He really scores in forsaking his script entirely. "I never go on with the words worked out," he says. "I know before I go on that I've got to do something about, say, brown sauce. But if you hold on to something you must do, people will see that. I never get nervous because nothing is planned. I'm a great believer in running on and something happening. Once I ran on, fell over and hit my thigh on the stage. Throughout the show, I kept going back to a 'bruise update'. Another night I found this stepladder that I wore as a rucksack all evening. Good shows are where you're Mister Mad and climbing the balcony."

La Belle Angele, Edinburgh (0131-225 7536) tonight

James Rampton