Edinburgh, Scotland -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/29/2010 -- Sarah Millican talks flowery blouses, orange foundation, cake-shaped swimming pools and refusing to be pigeon-holed.

Ever since she won the If.com Best Newcomer Award at Edinburgh in 2008, Sarah Millican has become a bit bored with the pigeonholes that most interviewers try to stick her in.

"I understand that they need to find an angle," she says, "but it's always "She's a bit common, she's from the North or she's a woman.'''

Well, two of those are true while one of them is both snobbish and patronising but they all seem a very limited way to describe Millican. You could colour in some of the large gaps in that incomplete picture by adding that the down to earth Geordie loves cakes, is fiercely ambitious and one of the fastest rising stars of the UK comedy scene. ( http://www.edfestmag.co.uk ) Her secret weapon is the element of surprise.

"People think that you won't talk about rape if you have a flowery top on," is how she cheerily puts it.

Unusually, Millican won the Newcomer Award for her very first solo show in Edinburgh. She hasn't looked back from that flying start. Mock the Week, Live at the Apollo and Michael McIntyre's Roadshow are just some of the many TV programs ( http://www.edfestmag.co.uk ) she has appeared on in the last year, along with dozens of radio spots. Her star is very much on the up.

So is it all cake-shaped swimming pools at Millican Mansions these days? "No,"she laughs. "I still live in the same flat and drive the same car, but I do like the idea of the cake-shaped swimming pool. It's my birthday on Saturday and that's going on my wish list, although I'm much more likely to get a swimming pool-shaped cake."

Millican describes moving between live stand-up and TV work as ( http://www.edfestmag.co.uk ) like being good at plumbing and then being asked to try out as a carpenter, but she's enjoying knock-on benefits beyond the valuable increase in exposure.

You can see Sarah Millican - The Stand One, 4-29 August (not 16), 8.20pm, From £7, Tel: 0131 5587272

Press Contact:
Sue Hitchen
Edinburgh Festival Magazine
21 Royal Circus
Edinburgh, Scotland EH3 6TL
0131 226 7766
LAB@clearwebservices.com
http://www.edfestmag.co.uk

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

If you’re looking forward to a true flavour of Edinburgh at this year’s Festival, look no further than Foodies Festival, celebrating another bumper year in Holyrood Park.

Edinburgh, Scotland -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/26/2010 -- Over the weekend of 13, 14, 15 August, Edinburgh's annual food and drink event, Foodies Festival Edinburgh, joins forces with the Fringe to combine cooking with comedy in Holyrood Park.

Visitors will be treated to a delicious taste of the Edinburgh Fringe, ( http://www.edfestmag.co.uk ) as comedians take to the stage in the Chefs Theatre. Fringe funnymen including Stephen K Amos, Tim Vine and Brendon Burns will join Scotland's Michelin star chefs to cook their favourite dishes live for you. Celebrity guests such as Sabrina the Teenage Witch's Aunt Hilda, stand-up star Caroline Rhea, will be popping in too.

This year, you will be inspired by top chefs including Geoffrey Smeddle of the Peat Inn, winner of the Scottish Restaurant Awards' 'Chef of the Year' and 'Restaurant of the Year' 2010; Edinburgh's beloved Mary Contini of Valvona & Crolla, and Michelin star Tony Borthwick of the Plumed Horse; Visitors will even get the opportunity to meet the chefs afterwards.

Food lovers can take a break from shopping and sampling to enjoy even more live entertainment on the edfestmag.com stage, which will showcase award-winning Fringe performances including music, dance and comedy.

In the Food and Drink Masterclass Theatres, ( http://www.edfestmag.co.uk ) you will get a chance to take part in hands-on tutored tasting sessions, including a Heston Blumenthal-inspired liquid nitrogen class; speciality beer tasting from entertaining and energetic double act Ben and Tom of Dwink.com; cocktail mixing classes led by Edinburgh's top mixologists, and food and wine matching with Discover the Origin.

Budding young chefs are treated to Cooking with Kids masterclasses, ( http://www.edfestmag.co.uk ) while parents enjoy whisky nosing and gin tasting. You can also sample signature dishes from your favourite restaurants and enjoy summer cocktails from top local bars.

Foodies Director Sue Hitchen commented: "Each Foodies Festival event is a great opportunity to celebrate local culinary and restaurant talent, and a commitment to fresh, seasonal and local produce. Foodies Festival brings together a passionate and discerning foodie audience with Britain's finest producers, connoisseurs and top chefs."

Foodies Festival Edinburgh, ( http://www.edfestmag.co.uk ) Holyrood Park, 13-15 August, From £6, Tel: 0871 230 5573

Press Contact:
Sue Hitchen
Edinburgh Festival Magazine
21 Royal Circus
Edinburgh, Scotland EH3 6TL
0131 226 7766
LAB@clearwebservices.com
http://www.edfestmag.co.uk

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Edinburgh, Scotland -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/24/2010 -- Gagmeister Tim Vine is hoping to tickle your funnybone and your tastebuds at this year's festival.

He won't thank you for the comparison, but the comedian Tim Vine and the Duracell Bunny have at least one thing in common: both can go on and on long after their rivals have collapsed in a dazed heap.

As well as his role in the BBC sitcom Not Going Out, Vine has invented and hosted several TV game shows, ( http://www.edfestmag.co.uk ) won Celebrity Mastermind and, at one time, held the World Record for telling the most number of jokes in an hour (499, if you think you can do better).

He is bringing similar energy levels to Edinburgh this year, where, in addition to his regular stand-up performances, he is also doing a three-night stint with his own chat show. ( http://www.edfestmag.co.uk ) Factor in the knowledge that his endearingly daft stage shows are well-known for their seemingly inexhaustible supply of absurd one-liners and his title for this year's Fringe show, The Joke-amotive, could hardly be more apt. Gags and puns shoot from his gob like sparks from the furnace of a runaway steam train.

It is a production rate that, if they could emulate it, would have the Greek economy back on its feet in no time. Vine wouldn't have it any other way. "I take the view that you should write a lot," he says. "If you write fifty songs then you are more likely to write a good one than if you just write three. That's how I look at writing jokes."

When preparing a new show, he tries to come up with fifteen fresh gags a day, ( http://www.edfestmag.co.uk ) and it will take him at least six months to accumulate enough material to feed his voracious stage act. And that's just the jokes.

The Joke-amotive, Pleasance One, 4-30 August (not 11 or 18), 8.43pm, From £10, Tel: 0131 5566550

The Tim Vine Chat Show, Pleasance Cabaret Bar, 26-28 August, 5.10pm, From £9.50

Foodies at the Festival, Holyrood Park, 13-15 August, From £6, Tel: 0871 230 5573, http://www.foodiesfestival.com

Press Contact:
Sue Hitchen
Edinburgh Festival Magazine
21 Royal Circus
Edinburgh, Scotland EH3 6TL
0131 226 7766
LAB@clearwebservices.com
http://www.edfestmag.co.uk

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm