With its tounge slightly in cheek, FringePig has award its first “ham-fisted” award for “the Fringe reviewer who most misunderstood what they were looking at.” to The List’s Graeme Connelly for his review of Stuat Goldsmith’s show:

Graeme wins for his stunning use of bathos. In his review of ‘Stuart Goldsmith: An Hour‘ he worships at the feet of Goldsmith for several paragraphs, and then ends with three stars. It’s a simple formula, but a winning one. The funniest reviews are often the simplest. Connelly receives the staggering sum of £50 which, we are told, can buy a very brief sensation of three-star pleasure if you know where to look. Mr Goldsmith wins £200, which he hardly needs since he is, apparently, a glowing comedy adonis with the world at his three-star feet.

Here’s the ‘winning’ review for your pleasure. Now, who’s reviewing the podcasters?

I might have hinted at this near the end of my thoughts looking back at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe podcast. I had a blast doing the show, which this year was recorded and broadcast live on Castle FM as well as going out as a podcast through the usual RSS powered sources.

When the Fringe was over, the time-slot on the FM dial was still open, so it felt natural to keep the one hour format of music and intervews going, but with some tweaks to fit the landscape in Edinburgh for the other 11 months of the year. So it’s a weekly one-hour show, 3pm-4pm every Friday, with guests from comedy, theatre, music, and the occasional special event, mixed in with bands playing in the local clubs, and a little quiz element called ‘Twenty Questions Wrong‘ (more on that in my next blog post, I think).

As I’m writing this after the event, you can listen to the show right now. I promise I’ll give you a bit more heads up next week so those of you outside Edinburgh can listen to the live stream from Castle FM. Truth is with the move to Castle FM’s Studio One I wanted to get all the buttons and sliders in the right place before the internet audience arrived!

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With Keith Jack, Leah Bonnema, Penny Black, Tom Diben’s theatre preview, and music from Sienna, The Gorms, Sham 69, and Matt Gloss and the Emulsions.
MP3 File – Show Notes – Podcast RSS Feed

And that, as they say, was the Fringe. Everyone is going over their August performances, from the Fringe office to the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre. Let’s do the same with the Edinburgh Fringe podcast. This was the ninth year of the daily podcast from the Capital, with music, guests, and Fringe news, bringing as many different facets of the Fringe as possible to the show. Not just the comedy, or the theatre, but the whole smash.

In short, if you were at the Fringe, it was a backstage pass. If you weren’t, my goal was to make you as jealous as possible.

This year saw one of the biggest changes to the show since it launched. Working with Castle FM, the show was broadcast live on Castle FM’s live stream, before being rebroadcast across Edinburgh on 98.8 FM, and then available as the regular Edinburgh Fringe podcast from the usual sites and RSS feeds.

This meant a slight change in format. The guests remained, but I was able to bring in a lot more music from many of the acts performing at the Fringe, as well as committing to four interviews in each weekday podcast. And while some of the interviews were pre-recorded in town, the vast majority of them were done in the studio, live, with no safety net.

It needed a bit more organising, and of course the interviewees had to be in the studio, ready to go, when the faders came up on the microphone. For that effort, I think it added a lot of energy to the show. As to the audience reaction, the quickest check was through iTunes, and the podcast charts. The Fringe podcast reached #2 in the Performing Arts chart (beaten only by the Radio 4 Play For The Day, I finally overtook The Archers); #3 in the Arts chart; and peaked at number #51 in the overall chart. I’d call that a success.

The question is, what happens next?

Answer number one is Fringe 2014. It would be the tenth year of the podcast, and that’s a pretty important number for me (and for podcasting). But that’s not until August next year, which is eleven months away. I still think there’s a gap in the market for a podcast that brings good chat, great music, and brings the best of Edinburgh to listeners in the capital (and further afield) all year round…

There’s an idea.

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The final weekend of the Fringe, just three nights left to see many of the shows (although some will finish tonight, so check the times at edfringe.com). As for the podcast, let’s have some extra interviews to kick off your Saturday. With David Quirk, Michael Che, Superbard, Bobby Mair, Ian Smith, and Ben Champion.

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Our final live show on Castle FM with guests from around Edinburgh, in the studio, playing on the CD, and more. It might be the end of this part of the Fringe, but you still have a few more days in Edinburgh to take in some amazing shows. With John Hinton (Relativitivity Speaking), Natalia Koliada (Trash Cuisine), Caroline Sniatynski (I Want To Tell You Something), and Daniel Cainer (Schtick and Spiel).

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Another good mix of guests and music today on the Fringe podcast, with Mark Dolan, Joathan Hearne, Northern Nomads, The Geordie (of The Ginge, The Georide, and the Geek), and Tony Delicata from Sinatra: The Final Curtain.

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Onwards with the Fringe, with music, special guests, surprise appearances, and an answer to the Davison/Troughton debate that’s pretty definitive, at least from my point of view. With Jennifer Lusk (Who Do You Think You Are), News Revue 2013, Fraser Millward, Sandy Brechin, and Tim Fitzhigham.

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Into the last week of the Fringe, with eight full days and nights of performances to take in – and even at this late stage that’s more than Glastonbury. Twice. A delve inthe nature of the Fringe today with reluctant talk show hosts, returning retirees, reality show hopefuls, and trying to work out how to pronounce Reichstadt. With John Fleming, Ian Kendall, Suzy Bennett, and Frank Sanazi.

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And now it’s time for something a little racey for Sunday, or at least interviews that might not be suitable for the airwaves of 98.8 Castle FM across Edinburgh! Just the interviews today, so let’s focus on the artists and head into the Fringe. With Eric Davis, Bob Slayer, Gary Beadle (The Room In The Elephant), and Cassette Boy vs. DJ Rubbish.

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Forget Martin Brundle and a handful of cars, this the Fringe! It’s time for the annual walk down the Royal Mile. Who’s flying, which shows are promoting, and who’s lying down on the cobbles of Edinburgh?

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The ‘big’ weekend approaches, with tickets to be sold, new fans and friends to be made, award judges to be impressed, all while trying to avoid the thought that there are still ten days left to go. With Jess Abrams (Cat Stevens Reconstructed), Brydie Lee-Kennedy and Courtney Powell (Sugar and Vice), Owen O’Neil and Dave Johns (The Shawshank Redemption), and Karin Danger (Hot Box).

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Today’s podcast was going great until Will Seaward turned up. I had a game of ‘Will or Will’ ready to play… and then the studio computers wen BSOD on me… the tape kept rolling though! With Gary Delaney, No Prophet Theatre (‘Boys’), Lior, and Will Seaward.

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Today’s Fringe podcast was a mix of live interviews in the Castle FM studios, on-location interviews from over the weekend, and music submitted by many of the performers at this year’s Fringe. Hopefully it’s bringing a great feel of the variety on offer in Edinburgh during August to you! Guests today are Lee Camp (a US comic), Hedluv and Passman (Cornish rappers), Claire Cunningham and Gail Sneddon (co-directors of this year’s National Theatre Scotland show, Mènage à Trois), and Tamar Broadbent (from the musical stand up show, Almost Epic).

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Opening week two of the Fringe, today’s podcast guests are John Robbins, Neil Gore (We Will Be Free), Jonty Stephens and Ian Ashpitel (Eric and Little Ern), and This is My Box.

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Who better to interview the stars of the children’s shows at the Fringe than my daughters Eilidh and Mairi? Yes, it’s the annual podcast where the children interview the children’s shows at the Fringe. With Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs, Drum Struck, Bec and Toms Awesome Laundry, Morgan and West, Father Christmas Needs A Wee, Help My Supply Teacher Is Magic, and I Believe In Unicorns.