EDINBURGH FESTIVAL '98: FESTIVAL EYE

THE FESTIVAL is kicking into life. Andre Vincent had a torrid time during his stand-up show earlier in the week. A joke about Hillsborough failed to have the desired effect on one of the victims' relatives while a voice in the audience pointed out that the plural of stadium was stadia, not stadiums.

And beware freak winds. Gordon Southern was standing below the canopy in the Pleasance courtyard yesterday when a freak gust of wind got under the canvas, dumping a few litres of rainwater onto poor Gordon's head. Still, you have to laugh.