Psychic should have seen this row coming

THE oxygen of publicity generated by Joe Power's very public drubbing at a Fringe launch show this week, it is warned, could only serve to bring more of the gullible and the bereaved to the door of he and other psychics.

But perhaps we should not take these warning too seriously. After all, spiritualists and their ilk have turned up at the Fringe at various times in its history - interesting characters ranging from famous, or infamous, Doris Stokes to the blind Belfast psychic Sharon Neill. These kinds of people will doubtless do again, both at the Fringe and elsewhere at what we might, at a push, call cultural events.

In September, for example, psychic Lisa Williams appears in the city's Usher Hall, underlining the continual public fascination with so-called mediums - and those who have long debunked them.

Without wishing to be too disparaging, their stock in trade is, well, derived from the theatre. They have something in common with magicians, comedians - and of course bankers and politicians. Persuading people to get lost in a performance, and challenge their beliefs, is at the heart of the Fringe's own magic.

But while festival audiences will crowd out a five-star show, they are also hardened veterans quite prepared to call a spade a spade and bring even big names down - from noisy walk-outs to heckling. It's already an old joke on the Joe Power incident, but it's worth repeating one more time: he should have seen it coming. Particularly in Edinburgh in August.