La Clique *****

One of the stars of La Clique, a bawdy, burlesque late night circus show is the venue it's held in. The Famous Spiegel Tent is an Edinburgh Festival institution, and the city is a brighter place for the month every year it pitches up its mirrored doors and wooden & stained-glass interior.

The human stars of the show are no less impressive though, and feature such acts as the English Gentlemen, two acrobats who perform incredible feats of strength and agility whilst wearing bowler hats and Union Jack underpants. And Captain Frodo, a rubber-limbed contortionist whose signature act is pushing his whole body through a pair of tennis rackets. And that's all before we get to the stripping magician, who pulls handkerchiefs from ever-more risque places...

The audience are encouraged to clap, cheer, whoop and holler whenever they feel like it, and that just adds to the whole vaudeville atmosphere of proceedings. Indeed, with the world-class acts, the noise and smells of the circus, the sounds of the crowd, the magical music and the venue itself, there are times when it feels like you're back in some early 2oth century entertainment.

Some circuses of this kind have filler material between the main acts. It's to La Clique's credit that it has none - just an ongoing procession of amazing feats and acts that you definitely should roll up for.

Day Two

Only two days into my festival-fest, and I've already lost track of days, dates and time. 3 shows yesterday, plus Yiyun Li at the Book Festival. And I got let into the Spiegel Garden. 

Another four shows today, no doubt interspersed with manic eating and drinking at every opportunity.

I'm getting into the rhythm of it now and having a ball. 

And it's only Tuesday. Or is it Wednesday? Who cares, let's go again...

Day one, week two

Was all a bit bonkers. Three great shows, Camille at Fringe Sunday, food & drink wherever we could grab it and being refused entry to the Spiegel Garden for 'having had too much to drink' (I hadn't, I think I just had a funny expression on my face...)

I've got another 14 days of this ahead (hopefully they'll let me in the Spiegel the next time) - and I can't wait.

Well and truly started

Even though I was at work yesterday, it really felt like the first day of my full-on festival period.

Went up to the Royal Mile at lunchtime and took over 300 shots of the performers and artists there - including the ever-photogenic Two Sopranos (one of whom is pictured to the right).

Then, after work, I went to the Tracey Emin - 20 Years exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. I didn't really know a huge amount about Ms Emin prior to seeing this, but it was a truly fascinating retrospective of her work to date. Using media ranging from video to tapestry (and with the infamous 'My Bed' installation an undisputed highlight), the exhibition was moving, harrowing, narcissistic, revealing, disturbing, confessional and compelling all at once.

Learning of her troubled childhood and traumatic life experiences (via a self-narrated video piece entitled 'My C.V. 1963-1997') put her provocative and arresting work into context and made me view her in a completely different light than previous. Emin deserves to be called an artist in the truest sense of the word, and as my friend observed, it will be fascinating to watch how her work evolves - and I'll definitely be making a point of seeking it out in future.

After the exhibition, I collected the final two tickets for the shows I have booked...then the call of the Spiegel Garden was too strong to resist. It's slightly smaller than last year, but the atmosphere is the same - whilst sitting outside drinking beer and watching people enjoying themselves, it didn't take a huge leap of faith to imagine you were in 1920s Berlin or similar.

Then, after a couple of drinks there, we moved on to Bristo Square, beside the Udderbelly tent where the likes of the Caesar Twins, Gerry Sadowitz and the Jim Rose Circus are all appearing. A couple more drinks and we spent the rest of the evening pretending to be invisible...