Festivals diary: Why everything is broken and one comedian's famous heckler

The bars and gardens were packed with revellers, but some of the flyering performers seemed jaded. I heard quite a few telling people that this weekend was the last chance to see their show, the consequence of this year’s trend for shorter runs in a bid to cut costs.

The implications of a two week run are clear: closing down a show just as reviews and word of mouth recommendations are starting to come in is a tough thing to have to do, but the alternative is getting into even higher levels of debt amid soaring accommodation costs in Edinburgh.

Some performers have told me they are living entirely on Pot Noodles and carry out beer as they do their best to avoid the pricey street food stalls as their main source of nutrition in an attempt to stay within budget. No wonder everyone is looking a bit pasty.

But even the facilities were starting to get tired out. One side of George Square Gardens was having a water supply problem on Saturday afternoon, with the entire toilet block closed and out of order for a period, while a member of bar staff was heard to cry “everything’s broken today”, as she struggled to change a wonky line on a beer tap.

It was yet another relentlessly sunny August weekend in Edinburgh, maybe we’re all getting a bit bored of them. Bring on the rain and let the tourists get out their Pac a Macs and we’ll all get a second wind and start to feel more Fringe again.

Mummy issues

Comedian Hannah Morton has had a tricky time with her audience during her Fringe run.

From one group of the "most drunk people I have ever seen in my life", as well as an entire roomful of quiet people who did not laugh once through the hour-long performance, the last thing she needed was an unruly heckler to add to the mix.

But performing her debut show about her side hustle life as a children's entertainer, she was grilled by one audience member who criticised her script. In a segment about "home hens" - hen parties held at home - she was surprised to be berated by one woman, who started lecturing her on why she had not defined the "home hen" before starting to speak."

She started going on at me about how not everyone knew what a home hen was in front of the audience," said Ms Morton, who says a good chunk of her show is given over to talking about her “mummy issues”. "I was like, 'Mother! What are you doing?'"

The heckler was none other than Ms Morton's mum, Scottish comedy legend Elaine C Smith.

From two people in an attic to Edinburgh International Film Festival opening

At the launch of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, Eva Victor, director, writer and actress of opening film Sorry, Baby, admitted it was not the first time she had been to Edinburgh in August.

“I came here in 2014 as part of the Fringe festival as part of an improv show in an attic that only two people ever came to,” she told the packed audience.

“So this is already way better. That visit, however, was totally cool and a rite of passage.”