The Festival is creeping up fast and we are really pleased to say that tickets are selling tremendously well.

HE MAY claim to be the world champion in karate, athletics, soccer and love-making, but when it comes to stand-up comedy, Judah Friedlander is a mere contender.

Even without an acting career, with his commitment to marathon running and performing in different languages, it’s a genuine wonder that Eddie Izzard has put together such a pleasurable two hours of stand-up.

When tortured Courtney Love-esque bipolar country rocker Loretta Maine declares that she will happily perform at wedding parties, you just know that she has never been asked to appear at such a function.

DANIEL Sloss is prepared for his appearance at Rock Ness, and is now nervously watching the skies over Scotland for a sign that the good weather can last beyond the weekend.

HEARD the one about the Scottish music festival with the star-studded comedy lineup? The RockNess Festival, held at Dores, near Loch Ness has managed to snap up acerbic charmer Jim Jefferies and Irish funnyman Dylan Moran to headline its comedy festival, backed up by a raft of the UK’s top comics.

WHEN railing against one’s own mortality and flailing against the onward march of civilisation are your default settings, even a spluttering work in progress from a comic as gifted as Dylan Moran is richly entertaining.

THIS week I am writing my column between airports, on my way back to Edinburgh from Norway.

Yianni Agisilaou has spent years playing to audiences of just 80 people on the notoriously tough comedy circuit.