One of the hottest and most exciting acts on the comedy circuit, Lady Garden, return to the Edinburgh Fringe for their third run, and their new show Top Secret Gig is highly anticipated.

Lady Garden first made a name for themselves in 2008 during their debut run, and subsequent citations by The Independent (who described them as one of the top acts to see in the UK) and The Guardian (who named their Britain's Next Top Monarch sketch as the best at the Edinburgh Fringe 2009) has added further weight to the feeling that Lady Garden will soon be carving a reputation on the small-screen.

To that end, they've performed at Glatonbury and all of the major comedy festivals, whilst they're already working closely with the BBC following a 12-month development deal. This year's show - though highly secretive, we're told - looks set to propel them further towards the big time...

"Our show this year is an hour of nonsense. Funny nonsense, but nonsense nonetheless," they tell us. "It's scary to think that this is our third year as that makes us sound old."

As a sketch group, Lady Garden have already been likened with many of the great names that are synonymous with the genre. Similarly, because of their sex, the likes of Victoria Wood, Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French are mooted as inspirations, but they explained that their list of acts whom they look up to is constantly growing. "Our inspirations in comedy range massively because we're such a big group but the likes of Julia Davis, Monty Python, The League of Gentlemen, Bill Hicks, Doon MacKichan, Steve Coogan, John Cleese, Tina Fey, Caroline Aherne, Peter Cook & Dudley Moore, Chris Morris would all definitely be there," they said. "The inspiration changes and gets added to all the time - particularly the more wonderful acts we see on the circuit."

What about the shows they would recommend this year? "Tom Allen, Nick Mohammed, Jonny Sweet, Two Episodes of MASH - to be honest we could be here all day, so just come up and ask us!" they add.

Despite their successes, have their been times when Lady Garden have considered an alternative career path? "It used to appear impossible to even physically get to a gig since we can't all fit in one car but then we got the Lady Wagon and now we're rocking," they jest, in reference to Beattie's car which is now used as the group's tour bus.

Sketch comedy has enjoyed somewhat of a rejuvenation on the live circuit in recent years, and groups as talented as Lady Garden with their witty, well-choreographed and ultimately very funny material go a long way to explaining why this is.

Lady Garden are performing at the Pleasance Beside (venue 33) between the 4th - 30th August. To find out more about the group visit their website: www.ladygardencomedy.com