
Meet the thriller writer who thought he was in a Beano adventure
Liam concluded that he must be starring in an anarchic Bash Street Kids strip in the Beano, after he thought he heard over the Tannoy: 'Please be advised that peashooters are not permitted on trains.'
Being a master of mystery fiction, he quickly solved the curious comic conundrum.
'Peashooters?' mused Liam. 'E-scooters!'
Goldfish variations
The Diary mentioned that most awe-inspiring of ferocious beasties, notorious for its starring role in a Spielberg movie…
And, no, we weren't discussing E.T.
We were talking about the great white shark, that toothy tearaway who picnicked on people in Jaws.
Reader Chris Hanley proudly boasts that he's not intimidated by great whites.
'I looked them up in the dictionary,' he says, 'and was disappointed to discover that they're members of a species called the 'mackerel shark'.
'So it's just a mackerel, I thought. That's not much scarier than being chased through the salty brine by an oversize goldfish.'
'I was sort of hoping it was going to be champagne,' says ever-optimistic reader Chris Robertson (Image: Contributed) Roll with it
Edinburgh-based stand-up comedian Jo Caulfield has been answering a questionnaire which asked: 'Which single battle do you think changed the course of history the most?'
Most people would probably suggest the Battle of Hastings, Bannockburn, Agincourt or Waterloo.
That's not the conclusion Jo arrives at, for she authoritatively says: 'Blur versus Oasis, AD 1995.'
Blockhead
Our correspondents are the fittest newspaper perusers in the land, possibly even the world.
That's why we're not surprised when Grant Robertson from Falkirk announces: 'I got up this morning and ran around the block five times. Then I got tired, so I picked up the block and put it back in the toy box.'
Art attack
The Diary has been praising the colourful mural of TV's Still Game gang that recently materialised on Paisley Road West.
Alas, as we pointed out, not everyone is a fan of the image.
On social media one harsh art critic states: 'To be fair, it looks not bad from a distance. If the distance is Paisley.'
Another person has this pithy response: 'Game over.'
Burnt offering
Culinary expert Rose Bayley gets in touch with us to point out: 'Forgetting that you left Alphabetti Spaghetti on the stove could spell disaster.'
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The National
32 minutes ago
- The National
Almost 1000 people gather in Edinburgh to watch man fold fitted sheet
A stand-up comedian from New Zealand, Dan Boerman, has gone viral on social media after he was able to draw a crowd of hundreds of people to watch him successfully fold a fitted sheet at the top of Calton Hill on Friday. The UK-based performer said it was probably the 'craziest marketing stunt' of his career as videos circulating on social media show droves of people cheering Boerman on as he completed the task. Explaining why he decided to pull the stunt, Boerman said that he didn't have thousands of dollars to promote his show at this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival and had to 'think outside the box' to advertise it. READ MORE: 'The welcome he deserves': TikToker goes viral praising National's Trump front page Along with the short video, which has raked up almost 15,000 likes on Instagram alone, Boerman said: 'Yesterday I summoned almost a 1000 people to the top of Calton Hill to watch me fold a fitted sheet in what was probably the craziest marketing stunt of my career. 'Somebody who legally wasn't me put these fliers all around town. 'Word began to spread in group chats and all across social media. 'By the time of the event, nearly 1000 people showed up to watch the action take place. 'If you don't have rich parents and thousands of dollars for PR, sometimes you just got to think outside the box and everyone there was super excited and had a great time.' In another post on Instagram, the comedian wrote that several other people attempted to fold the sheet, with varying success. He also thanked the hundreds of people who gathered for creating a 'fun' atmosphere. Boerman wrote: 'A couple punters from the crowd stepped forward to try themselves. 'One crushed it. One… gave it an honest go. 'Thank you so much to everyone who came through today. Such a fun atmosphere.' The Dan Boerman Folds a Fitted Sheet on His Own show will be running at The Apex Conference Center in the capital from August 1 to 25 at 2pm each day. The self-proclaimed 'high-energy and chaotic Kiwi comedy' describes his hour-long show as a love letter to 'our better halves and/or our situationships,' which you can find tickets for here. The comedian said he has returned to the festival this year after selling out his shows in Edinburgh last year and has just returned to the UK after touring Melbourne and New Zealand.


Edinburgh Reporter
4 hours ago
- Edinburgh Reporter
Discussion on dementia stories to follow UK premiere of Lost Lear at Traverse on Sunday evening
A special discussion around telling stories of dementia will follow the first UK performance of Lost Lear at The Traverse on Sunday 27 July. The new show by award-winning Irish theatre maker Dan Colley is a moving look at living with dementia, told through the familiar lens of Shakespeare's characters Following the preview performance on the 27 July, Dan will be joined by Alex Howard and Gus Harrower from Capital Theatres dementia-friendly programme and Magdalena Schamberger, who specialises in creating theatre for those with dementia Lost Lear will run on the main stage at the Traverse from 2 to 24 August Following its first-ever UK performance at Traverse Festival on 27 July, the hit Irish theatre show Lost Lear will host a special public discussion around telling the complex stories of dementia in theatre. The discussion will feature Lost Lear's award-winning creator Dan Colley, who will be joined by Alex Howard and Gus Harrower from Capital Theatres Edinburgh's dementia-friendly programme and Scotland-based theatre-maker and consultant Magdalene Schamberger, who has over 20 years experience working with people living with dementia. The discussion will look at the initial creation of Lost Lear and its collaborations between Dementia Carers Campaign Network and the Alzheimer's Society of Ireland. The play itself, a loose adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear, examines how we know ourselves and who we are to each other, amidst the complexities of dementia. The discussion will also be a chance for audiences to talk about how the show has resonated with their own experiences of living with and caring for those with dementia, with an invite being sent out to people from local dementia communities. 'Dan collaborated with the Dementia Carers Campaign Network (DCCN), an advocacy group supported by The Alzheimer Society of Ireland, in the early days of writing this play.' says Judy Williams, Advocacy, Engagement and Participation Officer for The Alzheimer Society of Ireland. 'Through focus groups, carers shared their experiences, shaping Dan's approach to the play. For the DCCN, the project was compelling, inclusive, and in some ways, healing. It also provided new opportunities for carers to share their stories, while raising awareness about the challenges they face. We were very grateful for the opportunity to have this engagement with Dan and Matt, and we wish them all the best at the Edinburgh Fringe 2025. We hope as many people as possible have the opportunity to see this sophisticated and thought-provoking play.' 'Lost Lear is a captivating journey, from an energetic and rambunctious beginning to the poignant and gentle end, it portrays the bewilderment of someone who wants to care, trying to have the shared experience with the person living with dementia, struggling and sometimes failing.' says Susan Crampton of the Dementia Carers Campaign Network. 'I am delighted to hear that Lost Lear is going to Edinburgh and many more people will have the opportunity to see it for the first time – or again.' Lost Lear is a moving and darkly comic remix of Shakespeare's play told from the point of view of Joy, a person with dementia, who is living in an old memory of rehearsing King Lear. Joy's delicately maintained reality is upended by the arrival of her estranged son who, being cast as Cordelia, must find a way to speak his piece from within the limited role he's given. Using puppetry, projection and live video effects, the audience are landed in Joy's world as layers of her past and present, fiction and reality, overlap and distort. Lost Lear is a thought provoking meditation on theatre, artifice and the possibility of communicating across the chasms between us. Following rave reviews for its Irish premiere, where it picked up nominations for Best New Play, Audience Choice, Best AV Design and Best Supporting Actor at the Irish Times Theatre Awards, Lost Lear will have its UK premiere at the Traverse Festival in Edinburgh this August. Following its Fringe run, Lost Lear will tour to North America in Autumn 2025. Co-produced by Mermaid Arts Centre and Riverbank Arts Centre. Funded by the Arts Council of Ireland and supported by Fishamble's New Play Clinic. Part of the 2025 Culture Ireland Edinburgh Showcase. Traverse 1 Preview 27 July 7.30pm and 2 August 9.30pm Then 3 – 24 August (not Mondays) Times vary. Run time: 1 hr 15 min Tickets: £5 – £25 Like this: Like Related


Metro
6 hours ago
- Metro
Hotel worker almost trampled by ‘stampede' of guests rushing for sunbeds
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