Mike Myers

How comedy captured the Edinburgh Fringe: part 3

In the third part of our Fringe history, two long-forgotten venues put comedy before theatre with the help of Austin Powers and a Wonder Dog.

The stars who made it big at the Edinburgh Fringe

'I saw them long before they became famous' is a common Fringe-goer's boast. But, as Fiona Shepherd discovers, there's a good reason for that.

Meet Charles Booth - Ed Fringe 2015

I started off doing regular sketch comedy and improv for many years and even went to Toronto for a couple to study at the world famous Second City, where comics like Mike Myers, John Candy and Martin Short got their start. But when I got back to the UK I had no one to do sketches with, so I thought, "Hey, why not just do a show on my own!" Deer in the Spotlights will be my third time up in Edinburgh as a solo sketch performer. I'm really excited about this year's show; it's got a big and bold personality but with some real heart and passion. And I start off with an 8 minute interpretive ballet routine about a sperm's journey to the ovum, so you can't really top that!

In which celebrities discuss their most treasured moments in all of Python history. Jim Carrey explains his unwavering respect for the Ernest Scribbler "funniest joke in the world" sketch, while for Mike Myers it's the emerging use of "caméra-stylo" in the Alan Whicker-lampooning Whicker's Island. Elsewhere, Stephen Fry gushes on the most chucklesome, whip-smart "argument clinic", Jessica Hynes shows her adoration for Cleese's "fish licence" skit and Eddie Izzard declares a deep love of "hell's grannies". Continues all week.