Pleasance Courtyard (venue website) Comedy 6-9, 11-16, 18-22, 24-28 Aug, 1:00pm-2:30pm
Family-friendly. Suitable for all ages.

Take reviews with a punch of salt?  Like to see for yourself before you make up your mind?  Then Pick Of The Fringe is made for you.  An old-fashioned variety show with a typical Fringe spin, Mervyn Stutter's now-traditional slot gives you the chance to sample a number of acts, all hoping to tempt you along to the full version of their routine.

	C Venues - C eca (venue website) Theatre 14-29 Aug, 6:50pm-7:40pm
Recommended for age 12+ only.

Here’s a witty, offbeat show, which we enjoyed a great deal when we reviewed its debut in Brighton.  An eloquent parody of the indulgences of performance art, it’s funny, sometimes touching, and performed by genuine skill.  But more than all that, it’s a moment of catharsis – granting us permission (at last) to laugh at those po-faced “tales of self-discovery” which occasionally crop up at the Fringe.

	Udderbelly's Pasture (venue website) Theatre 15 Aug, 2:20pm-3:10pm; 16 Aug, 6:30pm-7:20pm
Family-friendly. Suitable for all ages.

It was one of the sleeper hits of 2010’s Fringe; it enthralled small children, and reduced strong men to tears.  Filled with quirks and filled with beauty, it takes the simplest form of entertainment, and lifts it to the most unexpected of heights.  It’s shadow-puppetry, but not as we know it… and it’s back for just two shows.

	C venues - C soco (venue website) Comedy 3-14, 16-29 Aug, 2:45pm-3:40pm
Parental Guidance. Parents or guardians should consider the content of this show if children are attending.

How on Earth can anyone ad-lib a musical?  It’s hard enough just to speak off-the-cuff; simultaneously conjuring tunes, lyrics and a worthwhile plot seems beyond the average mortal’s imagination.  Ironically though, this mind-boggling feat has become almost commonplace at Fringe time, with established favourites Showstopper! the undisputed holders of the improvised-musical crown.  So aren't Music Box just cheap copycats?  Actually, no.

	Zoo Roxy (venue website) Dance and Physical Theatre 5-15, 17-22, 24-27 Aug, 4:20pm-5:20pm
Recommended for age 12+ only.

Recommending a brand-new play is always a leap of faith; but in this case, we’re confident we’ll land on solid ground.  From the same stable as last year’s hit The Vanishing Horizon, The Seagull Effect promises a stylized, physical interpretation of an event which has entered our national folk memory – 1987’s Great Storm.

	The Voodoo Rooms (venue website) Cabaret 3-7, 9-14, 16-21, 23-28 Aug, 9:40pm-10:40pm
Recommended for age 18+ only. Venue may not permit under-18's - check with venue before booking.

Walk through Edinburgh on a Fringe afternoon, and you’ll find any number of bizarrely-dressed street performers perched on the top of ladders – juggling ever-more-hazardous objects, and showboating their hearts out to the acclaim of the appreciative crowds.  But away from the noisy, jostling Royal Mile, entertainer Mat Ricardo can afford to skip the chainsaws and flaming torches, choosing instead to build his indoor show around a subtler, more skilful routine.  When we saw his act in 2010, he balanced tea-cups, tossed cigar boxes, and spun the obligatory bowler hat; he didn’t just whip the tablecloth from under his dinner-set, he even put it back on again.

	Gilded Balloon Teviot (venue website) Comedy 3-16, 18-29 Aug, 4:00pm-5:00pm
Parental Guidance. Parents or guardians should consider the content of this show if children are attending.

If video killed the radio star, can theatre restore him to life?  Probably not, but the presenters of The Fitzrovia Radio Hour are giving it their very best shot.  In this imaginative pastiche of the post-war airwaves, we’re invited into the studios of a 1940’s radio station – to watch bow-tie-clad actors read tales of derring-do, while their colleagues produce increasingly bizarre sound effects live on stage around them.

	Udderbelly's Pasture (venue website) Theatre 3-16, 18-29 Aug, 1:15pm-2:30pm
Parental Guidance. Parents or guardians should consider the content of this show if children are attending.

They flew the Atlantic eight years before Lindbergh – and, knighted on the spot by King George V, became the Boy’s Own heroes of their day.  But history’s neglected aviation pioneers John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown.  In its own small way, this comic two-hander promises to right that wrong… telling the story of their historic flight, and delivering an archly tongue-in-cheek nod towards the very nature of fame.

	Gilded Balloon Teviot (venue website) Comedy 3-16, 18-29 Aug, 3:30pm-4:30pm
Family-friendly. Suitable for all ages.

Quick, to the velocipedes!  There’s been a murder, and we know just the men to solve it. Send for Rhys Morgan and Rob West, the Fringe’s favourite purveyors of Victorian parlour tricks...  The rascally felon stands no chance against their timeless mix of sleight of hand and bamboozling charm.

Daily previews during June and July
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We'll be picking one preview each weekday from now until the start of the Fringe.  Check back here for more - or if you're into social networking, why not follow us on Twitter?  We'll be tweeting our daily choices, together with other Festival news and thoughts.