The things we tell ourselves

The Edinburgh Fringe has been likened to a prison that just one person escapes from a year. That person is the winner of the Edinburgh Comedy Award (previously known as the Perrier Award and still referred to as such by everyone).

The rest of us inmates bounce around telling each other a series of palatable half-truths. My favourites so far have been: -

• Houses are down across the Festival this year because of the recession
  
• Free shows are doing better than paid shows this year because of the recession
• Houses are up but end-of-show contribution are down because of the recession

And of course: -

• A review is just one opinion