Comic's top rating was well earned - but that was back in 2007

But those five stars, the comedian admitted yesterday, were for his 2007 show, which went on to win the Australian comedian the Perrier Award.

"It's a well known and long established ritual that acts take review ratings from previous years to add to their advertising and show posters," he said. "The reasons for this are obvious, as the magazines and posters go to print way before the show starts in order to publicise it. So none of us have any reviews or stars at that time we go to print, apart from the ones that have been given to us in the past."

He added: "It's been the norm for 20 years. Everyone understands that once you get here, people know enough that they are looking for the paper stars and paper quotes that get put up over the top of the poster, once you get it up and running."

Burns has issued eight albums and has just signed a DVD for this year's show. "I'm like Marmite; people love me or they hate me. I get more four and five stars than anyone else, so I think it's consistently good to represent that.

"I have never doctored a quote. I doctored a quote once and apologised profusely because it was an oversight.

"I've had two five stars, and one two-star review. The two stars, they wash away. Are we expected to tar ourselves with that brush for ever? If I stuck five stars on it in paper, and claimed that it was from this year, it would be perfectly out of order, but I didn't do that.

"The show has been mostly four stars this year. I took a while to get going. I knew I had faults in the show and I fixed it.

"You have to adapt, and you discover that all the previews you have done, you have to adapt to Edinburgh. It's the biggest arts festival in the world, and every room is so different."