At a typically funny and erratic Lewis Schaffer show (in which he heckled reviewer Kate Copstick) I spotted an unassuming young man doodling away in the corner.

After the gig, Peter Morey - aka the 'live scriber' - had set up his flip chart and was showing us the results. A fun, visual interpretation of Lewis' act. I arranged a chat with him and discovered that, as well as a few shows of his own here in Edinburgh, Peter has been recording various acts at Bob Slayer's Bookshop venue.

Hi Peter. I'm new to the world of scribing. Could you give a brief history and tell us what led you to Edinburgh with it?

I'm no expert, but I believe it started in West Coast USA in the 70's as a method of corporate consultancy, called 'graphic facilitation' or 'graphic recording'. The idea is that pictures, icons, glyphs and visual metaphors are used to enhance lateral thinking within groups to aid problem-solving. It has been applied in that way extensively and, once it started to attract artists, the kind of work you began to see from 'scribes' or 'graphic facilitators' became more and more interesting in-and-of itself.

The first example of scribing I saw was Andrew Park of 'RSA Animate' fame, who remains to me the most advanced exponent of this kind of work. Here's an Andrew Park short based on an interesting talk by educationalist Sir Ken Robinson.

How did you get involved with Bob Slayer and what's this 'Doodleathonedy' show of yours?

Bob took a punt on me coming to cover his venue at Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival back in February. I have worked with him many times since, scribing various comics including Al Murray and Marcus Brigstocke, and now I'm covering Bob's venues here in Edinburgh.

The show is a collaboration with Bob and Harry Hayball. It's built around me scribing onto a four meter piece of paper displayed in the shop, over the 5-day run. Guest comics perform for up to 10 minutes and audience members join in doodling each act in turn. We then discuss the drawings, projected onto the stage, and award ridiculous prizes for the best doodlers.

Prizes such as?

A stack of 'Eric Meat Wants To Go Shopping' flyers (because Ali Brice accidentally printed 15,000 of them!), an old vinyl record of Right Said Fred, and an interactive choose-your-own-adventure book called Beast Quest.

Overall what's your grand plan in Edinburgh and how many shows do you think you could cover?

I've started with the Heroes performers and am turning the Bookshop into a gallery of Heroes' scribes. I'm also 'scribing' as a unique form of subjective report on as many shows as I can, so that a general picture of the festival is built up. I could cover somewhere between 40 and 60 shows here I guess.

Can you enjoy the shows when scribing?

In general I do enjoy the shows and this makes me draw the way I do: I am trying to capture atmosphere as well as ideas, jokes, asides and unique happenings. However, I definitely experience shows differently when drawing than when I'm not. I feel like I have more responsibility when drawing, so that equals more pressure.

Talk me through the Lewis Schaffer scribe as an example of your thought process/ technique...

I started with a quick caricature of Lewis (not a great one this time - I have done better) and a gestural drawing of him, trying to capture the way he walks around as he performs, which is interesting. The rest consists of imaginative elements thrown up by the things he says, linked together in sometimes surreal combinations as his set progressed. I like that things which aren't necessarily linked in time can be linked up on the page as I draw. The meat grinder came from his joke about being on Grinder, which was a good image to link up disparate elements of the show (a man goes through a grinder and turns into goo/oil).

Lewis talked about the mountain of comedy, which led me to depict him as Sisyphus (from the Greek myth appropriated by Camus), who is eternally pushing a rock up a mountain only to have it fall down on or near the top. It links nicely to Lewis' show title, Success is Not an Option. So, in general I am looking for strong images or metaphors which link up, add to and/or encapsulate as much of the content as possible. Additionally, I have to state that I had to tread very carefully when drawing up some of his more controversial material.

I liked that Kate Copstick also features. Has she reviewed you yet? That would be weird... drawing Kate as she makes notes on you.

Hehe yes, I enjoyed drawing her next to some empty seats. She hasn't reviewed Doodleathonedy yet. Part of the reason why we only did five shows was to get in and out before reviewers could catch wind of us. Maybe if we renew the show, we'll be able to generate an infinity loop of the reviewer watching me watching them watching me.

How are the comedians reacting in general? Is it starting to snowball? Has anyone turned you down yet?

It is continuing to snowball. Everybody has been very encouraging about the whole thing. Comedians seem to like this kind of report/response to their material, which is nice.

I do hold back scribes when comics have asked me, which are mostly from when I respond quite literally to their act, transcribing what I hear quite directly (which happens occasionally). I could imagine that this could be a spoiler in some circumstances.

I have only been turned down outright by one person so far: Ian D Montfort, the psychic medium. This is entirely understandable because he might get kicked out of the magic circle if I happen to shed light on his techniques.

In the corporate world this is used to encourage creativity. Do you think you could branch out and help comics with their sets?

I would like to continue applying this technique in an instrumental and/or educational way where applicable, and your suggestions are great possibilities.

What would be your dream scribe job in the future? Could you see this on TV somehow?

If it was TV, I'd want to do something authentic and a little alternative, where the lateral and left-of-field-ness is appreciated. Or anything involving improv, as I'd capture something different each time.

However, more so than TV work, I would like to be given the chance to permanently decorate a venue by painting directly onto the walls in response to gigs/events. It would be a whole-room response to a run of gigs, mixed with overheard conversations from people at the bar, taking deliveries, doing admin etc etc. The kinds of things which wouldn't normally be documented. Those kinds of things are interesting to draw.

Sounds like a plan. Finally what quick doodle would sum up this interview?

I wish Microsoft Word had a doodle feature and then I would draw something. Errr... maybe a quick Duck-Rabbit doodle would do (which is on the flyer for Doodlethonedy).

You can see Peter's work by visiting Bob & Miss Behaves' Bookshop (at the bottom of the hill from the Pleasance Courtyard).

The Live Scriber: Doodle-a-thon-edy! has been extended until the 16th August. It's at the Bookshop at 1:20pm. Paul Curry and Ali Brice are amongst those who will be performing.

To find out more about Peter and see more of his pictures visit livescriber.com and Facebook, and follow him on Twitter too for updates: @TheLiveScriber

If you can't catch Peter at work in Edinburgh, you can watch him scribe a day of news from The Evening Standard in the video below: