Andrew Eaton: The hot topics of the Edinburgh Festival

FOR those of you who missed the entire Edinburgh Festival, but feel you should be able to say something thoughtful about it at dinner parties anyway, here are some of the past month's hot topics. Hope this is in some way helpful.

1. The power of the internet. Who was this year's most talked about comedian? Bo Burnham, YouTube star. We also have the web to thank for Japanese performance artists Frank Chickens winning thousands of votes in Foster's "Comedy God" poll, after Stewart Lee randomly named them in a diatribe against the poll that went viral. Another example of how people power can achieve something quite amusing yet mostly pointless. Yay democracy!

2. Sex trafficking. The abundance of Fringe shows about sex trafficking was fascinating and disturbing, and outnumbered only by shows about pornography and sexual violence. Roadkill, Fair Trade, The Author, While You Lie, Threshhold, etc. A warning that our hypersexualised society is at crisis point? Or evidence that, healthily, society is increasingly able to discuss dark sexual desires rather than pretend they don't exist (like the Catholic Church).

3. Burlesque. Is burlesque empowering for women, or does it trick women into mistaking sexual power for real, useful power? That was the question asked by a provocative burlesque review in our sister paper, the Scotsman. The result: headline-making outrage from the Fringe's burlesque community. Which suggested that a) the review was prudish and ignorant or b) the review was on to something.

4. Women. There were more female comedians this year than ever, with two – Josie Long and Sarah Millican – shortlisted for the Edinburgh Comedy Award. Apparently women can be funny too. Who knew?

5. Q: Why does the International Festival get so much more funding than the Fringe? A: So it can put on large-scale, prestige shows that will maintain Edinburgh's global reputation as a showcase for cultural excellence. Q: Like, er, Montezuma, which everyone thought was terrible? A: Not a fair example. We were thinking of The Gospel At Colonus and Porgy And Bess. Q: Hmmm. The jury is still out. A: You are a philistine. Q: No I'm not. Etc.

6. The future. This festival often felt a little like a last hurrah before funding cuts decimate the entire arts world. Which, given how inspiring, thought-provoking, exciting, life-changing and just plain fun this festival has been, is a crime.