It's amazing what one finds out on the Fringe, writes Leo Benedictus. When I leave Edinburgh, I will have seen around 40 comedy performances, most of which are already fading from memory. What I won't forget, however, is some of the morsels of information that the world's comedians have shared with me. Which of them do you think is true?
- The Antarctic was installed in 1838 to mark the occasion of Queen Victoria's first snog. (John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman)
- People on buses are 40% uglier than people on planes. (Fiona O'Laughlin)
- When your cat has kittens, someone comes round to approve your house for kitten-keeping. (Dara O'Briain)
- The mass of one person is equivalent to the energy of around 60 atomic bombs. (The Albert Einstein Experience)
- Gunpowder was made out of urine. (Chris Addison) (Actually, I already knew that, so there.)
- One in 10 people suffers from a mild form of Tourette's syndrome, but only 4% of Touretters have the sweary kind. (Noel Faulkner)
- In special Muslim women's sessions at public baths, everybody swims in full-body black outfits in the direction of Mecca, before getting out of the pool and rushing back round to where they started. (Shazia Mirza)
- In central London, you are never more than six feet from a DJ. (DJ Danny)
- The average life expectancy in Shettleston is 61. (Fred MacAulay)
- The winner of the Daily Mail Ideal Home exhibition was a thatched cottage with a gun turret. (Robin Ince)
- The Boaster is Junior Simpson's favourite biscuit. (Stephen K Amos)
All of them, I think, are true in their own way. And I've always had my doubts about Antarctica.
