Edinburgh Festival Insider - Comedy Award 2009

Although comedy is not my favourite genre, I've seen a smattering of shows that fall into that camp. And whilst an award from someone that doesn't claim to be an expert in the field may not amount to a hill of beans, there are some shows which certainly deserve special mention.

So, here is the inaugural Edinburgh Festival Insider Comedy Award 2009 - and the nominees are, in no particular order:

• Frisky & Mannish's School of Pop. This show has caused a sensation in its first ever visit to the Fringe. Hilarious spoof pop songs which had me laughing so hard I was grateful for the image stabilisation on my camera and a pair of stars in the making.
• Princess Cabaret. Everyone's favourite tweeting Disney Princesses treated us to a show which lived up to the hype and provided some cleverly-written sketch-based comedy that saw Snow White and the rest descending into some pretty risque territory.
• The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre Goes To Hollywood. Intentionally shambolic, utterly chaotic and more laughs in 60 minutes than two socks have the right to generate.
• Shut Up, Play! For its uniquely Japanese lunacy and inspired nonsense, Original Tempo was a delight from beginning to end and had moments of absolute hilarity.
• Chris Cox: Mind Over Patter Mind-reading mentalism with a large dose of funny lines and self-effacing asides, Cox - like the Princesses - predicted how useful Twitter would be in generating interest in his great and mind-boggling show.

And the winner is....

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre Goes To Hollywood!

For consistent laughs and boundless energy, Kev F Sutherland and his socks are this year's winners for speeding through a fast-paced hour of sketches, spoofs, ad-libs and songs that had me laughing from the moment the socks appeared until Sutherland emerged in his kilt at the very end. Both hilarious and extremely clever, his excellent show deserves not only this award but sell-out audiences for every run to come.

So, socks, take a bow:

Review: Chris Cox: Mind Over Patter *****

Five. Chris Cox, "the mind reader who doesn't read minds", brings his Mind Over Patter show to Edinburgh for a five - sorry - four-week run at the Fringe. BBC Radio 1's resident magician, 25-year old Cox attempts to demonstrate all you need to be able to make people think you can read minds are some magic skills, a bit of psychology, a liberal sprinkling of subliminal 5 messages and an engaging and affable stage presence.

Using all of the above, Chris performs a series of ever-more baffling and impressive routines (five in total, I think) that to describe in any detail here would spoil the impact of. Suffice to say, by the end of the show (which last night started 5 minutes late), you'll be convinced that, despite his claims to the contrary, Cox really can see inside your head.

Shows like this sometimes live and die by the degree and willingness of audience participation - if you're lucky enough to catch his show whilst its packed and full of up-for-it punters, then Cox's banter and interaction with his "volunteers" is extremely amusing and good fun (although I did count at least five mentions of mild rude words, so it's maybe not suitable for young children).

I feel compelled to award Chris Cox my highest accolade - I just don't know how he does it (and trust me, neither will you).

Chris Cox: Mind Over Patter runs until August 31st (not 17th) at the Pleasance Dome. £9.50 (£8.50 concession).