The Short Fringe, 10/08/10

- A sophisticated lunch at the Apex International Hotel to launch the 30th year of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards started well but descended into chaos when water pistols (ready loaded) were handed out to guests. Coffee was never served.

- Adam Riches' new show is not for wallflowers. Prepare to throw darts, shoot guns, feed a centaur or, if you're the unlucky one, be spat upon. Sitting on the back row is no guarantee of safety, I found.

- For the Fringe reviewer whose nightlife options are limited to the scruffy student chic of Brookes Bar or the turreted seclusion of the Loft, a visit to 'Hot Mess', staged in Edinburgh's swankiest nightclub, Hawke & Hunter, provides a glimpse of how the other half lives: lots of mahogany and black lacquer.

Joke of the day

"Technically, shoplifting from the Apple store only counts as scrumping."

Gary Delaney