Fred at the Fest: Day 1

Was this morning the first ever live comedy wrestling match on BBC Radio Scotland? Brendon Burns and Max Olesker's appearance on today's MacAulay and Co rapidly turned into hilarious - though very realistic and slightly wince-inducing staged violence. Crouched in my runner's position in the wings halfway through the show, I was right in the middle of the action and thought briefly of the listeners at home enjoying the mayhem at a safe distance... The first MacAulay and Co show of the Fringe was organised chaos and a lot of fun. Just after all us runners had got into the swing of our duties for the day (which included handing out audience questionnaires and picking out the funniest responses) it was onto the first performances. Things got off to a surreal start with the Segue Sisters' brilliant musical mash-up of Aerosmith and Run DMC's 'Walk This Way' with the Grange Hill theme, which was followed by great comedy snippets from Ava Vidal and sketch troop Sheeps. Brendon Burns hung around after his slot, chatting to the team and making sure that Max was still fighting fit after his onstage bout, while the madness of the show continued with Fred and Rich Hall's impromptu clown nose made out of microphones, sausages given to audience members as anniversary gifts and some arm wrestling between Al Murray and Susan Calman. Guess who won? At the end of the show, for the runners it was a case of scouring the venue for audience members' lost property (a special mention to Fiona, who went looking for a shoe and found some eyelash curlers), making sure everything was tidy for the next events, taking part in the show debrief and grabbing some hard-earned lunch. Tomorrow's show promises to be even funnier and more chaotic as the Fringe madness carries on apace.