Edinburgh Festival Day 3: Word of Mouth

CHARLOTTE BELLAMY, performing in Double D, recommends On the Verge of Exploding at the Pleasance. 'It's a clown show influenced by Gaulier. Extremely funny and very original.' The punters seem to crave originality. Charo Cabanes from Spain points others to Exstatic, also at the Pleasance, describing the trapeze narrative as 'original'. The o-word also crops up in Wendy Melville's recommendation of Shakespeare for Breakfast at C: 'original and amusing'. Percussionist Risenga from Shango suggests fellow Dream Tent performers Kwela Abafana. 'It's something that the community doesn't have.' Something Edinburgh does have at the moment is the ever- original George Melly. The singing fedora names his festival choice - George Melly - while conceding that The Jim Rose Circus Sideshow at the Acropolis on Calton Hill is equally 'poetic'.

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