Six acts are drawn daily from a rotating pool of stand-ups who seek to entertain in this talent spotting showcase.
An imaginative transformation of the the gap site left after the Gilded Balloon venue burned down in 2002, sees this new urban garden in the Cowgate with 250 tonnes of sand topped off with various tents, bars and even a full-on skate-park.
Rob Tarbuck played the cheeky-chappie compère getting us in the mood, dishing out sweeties to those brave enough to sit at the front, and chatting with the audience. A selection of young comics then gave us about 10 minutes each of their patter, with varying degrees of success. Whilst no-one was truly awful, there were no shining stars either. Most acts on the day of the review were certainly well beyond the beginner stage, but not yet fully fledged performers with enough material to hold an audience.
Almost all performers were in other shows at this year's Fringe, and took the opportunity to plug these during their act. Many acts had the cast of their shows in with them too, and this seemed to account for much of the laughter around the room at times.
Day-time stand-up is always a little hard to pull off, as this kind of comedy seems to work best in dark and dingy venues. Sitting in a bright tent in the middle of the new venue makes it hard to get into the right frame of mind to let loose with the belly laughs.
Whilst the rotating nature of the event means that you do stand a chance of seeing a 'star of the future', the format and timing of the event mean that it might still be a bit early in their career to see true polish.
