Holly Burn is not appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe this year. Instead she has generously given her spot to a Geordie lass called Kirsty K who is using it to celebrate her dead nan's life. In this exclusive interview Kirsty K tells us about herself and her ambition to own a giant Chuppa Chup. Please excuse any unusual spellings, they are Kirsty K's not BTJ's.

Simon Evans is one of the country's most stylish stand-up comedians. And I'm not just talking about his bespoke suits. On stage he has a relaxed, quiet authority that immediately reassures his audience that they are in safe hands. Evans has the kind of elegant, faintly fogeyish precision that suggests that he wishes that he could perform from a high-backed leather armchair with a tumbler of the finest Scotch in his hands. He is particularly good at getting irate about the ills of modern society.

Comedy critics are supposed to be able to tell who is good and who is bad. But sometimes some acts simply defy the easy good v bad equation. When I saw Kelly Kingham at the New Act of the Year final in 2014 I was immediately struck by his oddness. He is not part of the Neil Hamburger anti-comedy brigade but neither is he a conventional jokesmith. Was he a slick comedian pretending to be nervy and neurotic, an old school camp comic having one last crack at fame or was he a raw newbie doing his best?  Even his age was unknowable.

James Veitch is a keypad warrior. A fighter for justice with a broadband connection instead of a cape. In his breakthrough Edinburgh show he took on the Nigerian scammers and led them a merry dance when all they wanted was his entire life savings. He told the story of his playful antics in his book Dot Con.