Another nice show (I know I keep saying that but thankfully we have had a lot of nice shows). It was also the second outing for my as-yet-unmentioned new cardigan, which, it has to be said, is getting pretty much the same reaction as my old cardigan (nothing – it’s just a bit of knitwear).

One of my uni mates was in the audience so I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up with her before heading to Helen Arney, Matt Parker and Steve Mould’s comedy science show Festival of the Spoken Nerd.

I’ve been to several editions of FotSN in London, in a lovely but cramped room above a pub. The Edinburgh “Best of” show was in a much, much larger room – and still cramped, as nerds from across the city poured in, attracted by the promise of maths, physics and fact-checked jokes.

I found a spot right at the back of the room where I could see the screen (not wanting to miss a single graph) and ended up sat on the bar for the duration of what was (unsurprisingly, based on previous experience), a funny and educashunal show. And I’m now one Helen Arney CD heavier – hurrah.

(I use parentheses too much in these posts, don’t I? It probably says something deep about how my mind works. And the lack of redrafting.)

The day concluded with the antidote to Edinburgh, the always fun Comedy Countdown.

Dan Atkinson’s misanthropic hosting is a joy; James Sherwood makes a wonderfully scatological Susie Dent; Paul Sinha was in suitably abusive form, especially when the audience shouted down his solution to one of the numbers rounds, which was frankly much more elegant than theirs; and Danny Pensive nearly had me on the floor with laughter when he reached into a Poundland bag and pulled out a homemade Wordy outfit.

What I learnt today: How super-absorbent polymers work. And how to spell “objector”.

Recommended show: Comedy Countdown (again)

Obligatory plug: I’m in Three Man Roast, 2.35pm weekdays and Saturday 20th at Finnegan’s Wake on Victoria Street – free entry. Also at the Amused Moose Comedy Awards Showcase at the Pleasance Dome, 4pm on August 17th (book online).