Edinburgh Comedy Festival

[1] Effectively a marketing campaign for the "Big Four" venues at the Fringe - Assembly, Gilded Balloon, Pleasance and Underbelly - the designation was quietly dropped after widespread media and industry criticism.

In the 1990s, an attempt was made to create an Edinburgh Comedy Festival in August, with a cigarette brand as the sponsor.

[2] The idea was revived, however, when, in June 2008, many news stories and commentaries appeared in the media about the launch of the Edinburgh Comedy Festival, both positive and negative.

[10] High-profile names in the 2008 festival include Joan Rivers, Paul Merton, Clive James and John Pinette.

[1] The term "Edinburgh Comedy Festival" has since ceased to be used, although the Big Four venues continue to produce a combined brochure.