Performing in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is always a roller-coaster of intense emotions that can leave even the strongest and sanest of us babbling and weeping incoherently like a robot who suddenly develops human feelings. Let the following brief essay illustrate my point:

I received an e-mail from a major publication and the subject line contained their name and the word “review”. I was justifiably thrilled that so far out from my show’s opening night there were journalists clamoring to attend and possibly write nice things about me. I may have danced. Yes. I possibly did a little dance.

However when I opened the email I discovered it was someone wanting me to prove that a quote I had attributed to their publication was in fact true as they could not find any record of ever reviewing me. This was like being kicked twice. Hard. In the penis. By my Mum. No new review. No clamoring. And also, by the way, my credibility was being called into question.

I quickly shot an email back and explained the quote I had correctly attributed to their publication had come from a 2008 article they had done about Australian performers at the Fringe, and not a previous review and the problem was resolved. However if there are any less-than-honest fringe performers out there, beware – there seem to now be a Quote Squad.

Years ago, before I had performed much and had no media quotes to use, I was very tempted to write as my entry in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival Guide, “absolutely the best thing of the festival” - Edinburgh Fringe Festival Guide.

I thought it was kind of funny, but I never did it and certainly wouldn’t do it nowadays. It seems that you no longer need to have a sense of humor to take comedy seriously.

And you can quote me on that.