Boothby Graffoe
Assembly Rooms Ballroom

Whimsical songs and gently-paced musings sound quite twee, but not in the hands of Boothby Graffoe, consistently one of the funiiest performers at the Edinburgh Festival. This year, he has graduated to one of the larger rooms at the Nokia Orange Assemby, and here, at least, is one performer who is able to take advantage of it. He is a supremely inventive comedian, with a hint of the naughty schoolboy about him, and an ability to make his scripted material sound genuinely off-the-cuff. He also produces some of the most bizarrely entertaining songs (and song fragments) that you're going to hear. Occasionally they even rhyme. Most other comedians who try to incorporate music into their shows should take a look at Boothby and learn the magic ingredient - thay have to make you laugh. And Boothby does make you laugh, almost continually, by seeming to be simply entertaining himself. His one major flaw, however, is an almost obsessive interest in elaborate props and set pieces - there's another one in this show - which seem to amuse him but are rather hit-and-miss for the audience. Take in this surprisingly early (7.30pm) show to set you up nicely for the evening.

Buy that man a pint of Guinness