Julian Hall

Julian has been the comedy critic for The Independent since 2003 and has reviewed most of the major figures in UK and US comedy, either at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, on national tours or overseas. In his capacity as a critic Julian has been on the judging panel for numerous awards including the if.comedy awards (formerly The Perrier Awards and now the Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Awards) in 2007 and in 2008. He was also a So You Think You're Funny judge in 2009. Julian is also the author of the Rough Guide to British Cult Comedy and he regularly contributes to radio and TV programmes.

Peter Geoghegan

Peter Geoghegan is an Irish writer and journalist roughing it in Edinburgh. As a journalist Peter has only one rule: never say "no". Whether it's ice-fishing in Iceland's remote Westfjords or hanging out the creator of The Wire, David Simon, in bad-ass Belfast, his motto is always "has pen, will travel". He has written for a wide—very wide—range of publications including The Scotsman, The Irish Times, The Guardian, The Herald, The Irish Independent and The Sunday Business Post. This will be his third Fringe.

Edd McCracken

This is Edd's tenth year covering Edinburgh's festivals. Music reviews for the first ever Fest marked the start of his career in journalism and led to working for The List, The Herald, and Holyrood Magazine. After winning Young Journalist of the Year at the 2004 Scottish Press Awards, he joined the Sunday Herald and latterly became its arts and education correspondent. In 2006 he won the Allen Wright Award for his Fringe reviews. Earlier this year he was nominated for Scottish Feature Writer of the Year. Now freshly freelance he marks a decade on the Fringe back with Fest.

Malcolm Jack

Malcolm is an experienced freelance journalist and copywriter, specialising in arts, entertainment and lifestyle coverage – in particular music. He has written for a variety of print and online publications in Scotland and UK-wide, including The Scotsman, The Big Issue in Scotland, The List, Metro, The Sunday Mail, Channel 4 Ideasfactory/4Talentand Heritage-Key.com.

Malcolm has written about everything from contemporary pop to experimental theatre, adventure sports and ancient history, interviewing all from movie stars and musicians to politicians, playwrights and pyramid construction theorists along the way.

David Hepburn

David worked as a solicitor for five years before giving up the drudgery of law for a career in journalism. He works as senior reporter for a series of local newspapers and has written for a range of publications including The Herald, Fringe Report and HEB Magazine.He was brought up in Edinburgh and now lives in Glasgow but still flits east every August for the various Edinburgh Festivals. Having staggered through 20 consecutive Fringes he’s lost count of the number of shows he’s seen. Particular highlights have included Daniel Kitson compering Late ‘n’ Live “when it was still good”, seeing a pre-Little Britain Matt Lucas and David Walliams booed offstage, and inadvisably heckling Brendon Burns (he still suffers flashbacks).

Ben Judge

Ben Judge is a triple Allen Wright Award-nominated writer and reviewer who has been covering the Edinburgh Festivals for the last five years. A permanent resident in the city and a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, he has written in the past for Scotland on Sunday, The Times and The Skinny. Ben was editor of Fest in 2007 and 2008 and he was also theatre editor in 2009. His main critical interests lie in theatre and comedy. Ben is also on Twitter; you can follow him @benjudge23.

Ruth Dawkins (Fest kids editor)

Ruth Dawkins is a blogger, and photographer who lives in Edinburgh. At university she was editor of both the Student newspaper and Students' Association magazine, spent a year as Student President, and was selected for an Observer internship. Following three years as an environmental campaigner, she became a full-time parent, and in that time has written for blogs and publications including Fest, the Guardian, Offbeat Mama and Edinburgh for Under Fives. 

Stevie Martin

Stevie is a freelance writer who graduated with an English Literature degree from Durham University where she then went on to complete an MA in Magazine Journalism at City University. She has written theatre previews and features for titles such as The Sunday Times Magazine, Completely London, Cath Kidston Magazine, The Covent Garden Journal and The Marylebone Journal. She also regularly wrote arts and theatre reviews and features for The Durham Times and freelanced for Weight Watchers Magazine, which is irrelevant but still important.

Catherine Sylvain

Since winning Critic of the Year at the Guardian Student Media Awards in 2009, Catherine has been published in The Guardian and The Skinny. Ostensibly a third year English student, Catherine’s true specializations are internet discourse and envy; the likelihood that she has been on your Facebook page is 3-1. Currently dividing her time between California and Mexico, Catherine’s true home will always be the damp corner of The Brass Monkey’s vast back-room mattress clutching a cocktail and a crossword.