As an inspired piece of promotion it takes some beating. I was planning to go to one of this particular PR's shows when he tips me off about another, a potential Fringe sensation. I drop everything and spend an hour in the tedious company of a couple of squabbling Tolkien nerds. The dark forces fooled me.
If Lords of the Ring (at the Gilded Balloon) is Edinburgh's best, comedy is in a truly parlous state.
Luckily for weekend visitors, things are not that bad, though the challenge of swimming through the treacle of hype remains. You could wallpaper Grassmarket with the flyers that have been thrust into my hand - except that, judging by the shiny ads for easily forgettable shows on every brick, someone already has. As a rule of thumb, the quality of a show is inversely proportional to the amount of promotion.
Edinburgh veteran Stephen Frost, who knows a bit about advertising from his days promoting Carling Black Label, advised me that his favoured method of PR was "a single, hand-written poster with gig details, an arrow pointing down and some Blu-Tack". He takes it everywhere and sticks it above his head. Hey presto, instant publicity.
Any visitor trying to beat the information barrage and have a good time is best advised to combine safe bets with the odd risk. Boothby Graffoe (at the Assembly Rooms) may be too eccentric to be a superstar, but he is precisely eccentric enough to deliver a satisfying mix of the surprising and the surefire. His venue's emergency exit opens out on to a branch of Yo! Sushi and when I saw the show Graffoe came within a whisker of persuading an audience member to steal its delivery bike.
It is hard to imagine anyone leaving gigs by standups Adam Hills, Dara O'Briain and ubiquitous Perrier tip Daniel Kitson (all at the Pleasance) without a smile. And the deliciously vulgar Jackie Clune (Assembly Rooms) returns to her comic roots following her portrayal of Julie Burchill. For shows that dig deeper there is Andre Vincent Is Unwell (Gilded Balloon), in which this fun-sized Phill Jupitus talks about his cancer treatment. Scotland's World Cup record is better than its Perrier record. Arnold Brown in 1987 was the last Scots winner. Craig Hill (Assembly Rooms) is unknown in London but a cult for the kilted. He may not win it this year, but anything without a juggernaut PR campaign is a winner in my book.
The Fringe runs to 26 August. Box office: 0131 226 0000.
