Let's do the show right here

But this year, no less than 70 new temporary venues will be created, with shows in a public toilet, a stationary lift and under a man-made waterfall.

One comic was so desperate to perform that he will be entertaining customers in the back of his red Ford Escort, while a one-woman show takes place on top of a stepladder.

The Fringe director, Paul Gudgin, said he is delighted by the ingenuity of theatre companies in uncovering new and challenging spaces in which to present theatre.

Edinburgh has seen unusual Fringe venues sprout up before, with big-top tents, greenhouses and taxicabs being used alongside the usual community centres, schools and church halls.

But even august institutions such as the Traverse are getting in on the act, with a new venue sited in the public toilets behind the St James Centre.

The public toilets, renamed Traverse Four @ Your Convenience, have been chosen as the setting for Ladies and Gents, by Irish playwright Paul Walker.

A Traverse spokeswoman said: "Edinburgh is running out of space so there is nowhere else to perform it.

"We believe it will add to the atmosphere. You are not going to be able to recreate the smell and the claustrophobia of a public toilet in an ordinary theatre."

Members of the audience will spend twenty minutes in the gents toilets and twenty minutes in the ladies, and will swap between the two spaces during the interval.

The production, which has been described as "a smart, slick piece of work with a glamorous film noir quality", tells of a clandestine affair between a member of parliament and a call girl, which takes place during the sexually-repressed era of the 1950s.

The award-winning Irish company Semper Fi promises the performance will evoke "fumblings in alleyways" and "perverse pleasures in the oddest places".

The administrative director of the Traverse, Mike Griffiths, said: "I saw the play in Dublin and I was really taken by the atmosphere of doing the show in the toilets. I thought it made much more sense to try to find some toilets in Edinburgh and recreate that, rather than try to reproduce it in a theatre."

He said the unusual setting is "slightly unsettling" but believed theatre-goers would react well to the novel location. "I think people expect the Traverse to be innovative and challenging so I think it is entirely appropriate," he added.

Festival enthusiasts in search of unusual visual experiences will also be able to watch an Italian contemporary dance company performing beneath a man-made waterfall.

Materiali Resistenti say their show Waterwall "takes the extreme danger, beauty and power of this natural resource and creates a heart- stopping visual spectacle".

The cascade, which will use 16,000 litres of water, will be staged in the Old College Quad, the University complex built by Robert Adam, which has been the backdrop for some of the most spectacular outdoor performances of recent years.

On a rather smaller scale, comedian Alfie Joey, who claims to "spread joy like a virus", will be entertaining punters in the back of his own red Ford Escort, which will set off daily from Roxburgh Place at 3:30pm.

Fringe-goers in search of mobile adventures will also be able to take a ride with DJ Minicab, who presents an hour-long show in a taxi and promises passengers "an unforgettable party on wheels".

And No Room on Top is a comedy show which takes place on board an executive double-decker bus.

For those in search of the genuinely unusual, Katy Slater will be performing her new work Toast from the top of a stepladder at the Carlton Hotel.

The performer bills her work as an "engaging bittersweet journey though the loves and misunderstanding of a bemused soul", and offers the odd notion that "it’s important to make weekends special, even if you live on a stepladder".

While companies such as the Traverse may claim artistic licence for using unusual locations, the Fringe has also seen a rise of micro venues, which pop up in familiar places with their own miniaturised bill of fare.

Last year’s Miniscule of Sound, a tiny capsule nightclub with fur-lined walls, bouncers and a red-carpet entrance, was a huge hit when it appeared at the Bongo Club, attracting long queues of clubbers keen to sample its steamy atmosphere.

The Pleasance courtyard has already been the host to the World’s Smallest Cinema, and this year is the setting for the 5065 Lift, a stationary stainless-steel lift two metres wide, which is offering a programme of events from kids shows to short films.

The Lift, which is sponsored by Fair Trade coffee company Cafe Direct, holds an average audience of 12 and boasts a complete mini Fringe featuring 55 different acts, including a new play about 11 September and a musical about George Orwell with a1980s pop soundtrack.

The Lift will offer its own mini film festival, featuring short films with stars including Ewan MacGregor and Rachel Weisz.

On a somewhat larger scale, this year sees the launch of The Pod, a 400-seater temporary theatre which will be erected on Lothian Road outside the Sheraton Hotel. Popular Scottish comedian Danny Bhoy and Perrier-winner Daniel Kitson will both present comedy shows there.

Comedy chain Jongleurs also opens its new year-round comedy club at the Omni complex this week, just in time to launch its festival programme.

New venues also include the Carlton Highland Hotel, St Cut’s, the Jury’s Inn and Portobello beach. Mr Gudgin said he was delighted that the number of venues has increased, despite the loss of three central venues as a result of the Old Town fire.

The headquarters of the Gilded Balloon comedy club were razed to the ground in the blaze, destroying three performance spaces in the heart of town.

But thanks to the inventiveness of Fringe companies, the number of venues has increased to 207, which is 24 more than last year.

Mr Gudgin said: "At the end of last year we were faced with one of the most serious problems in our organisation’s recent history, as images of a city consumed by fire were appearing across the world.

"I am extremely grateful to the Edinburgh community for continuing to prove itself as the perfect host, providing a record number of spaces to present our world famous programme."

At the launch of this year’s Fringe programme, Frank McAveety, the minister for tourism, culture and sport, said he was delighted to see so many new venues.

"The launch of the 57th Edinburgh Festival Fringe, with a record number and greatly expanded list of venues shows that Edinburgh and the Fringe are not only open for business but stronger than ever," he added.