Secret Edinburgh: Keith Farnan's favourite Fringe drinking hole

To kick start our series, Keith Farnan tells us why he has decided not to break with Irish tradition and recommend his favourite Edinburgh drinking hole, Under The Stairs as his Secret Edinburgh.

OK, so everyone else will have recommended Arthur's Seat and various museums and beautiful steps you stand on to see the dawn etc… and you're probably thinking, Irish comedian will probably recommend pub.

So I will not disappoint. When you’re in the midst of the festival chaos for what seems like months, but is in fact only days, it is a joy to have somewhere relaxed, chilled and cool-without-being-pretentious to go to, and 'Under The Stairs' is my choice.

Besides the lovely Roald Dahl inspiring name there's the location on the little hill between the Underbelly and the Gilded Balloon.

Its central to two of the biggest locations in the festival and yet you sneak in the back door of what I thought was the kitchen (which upset the manager when I asked where the main door was) and greeted by soft armchairs, an array of fine foods, and a sense of peace that is rarely found in an Edinburgh pub but that slowly fades away into a pleasantly raucous evening…

So yes, Irish must see is a pub…colour me stereotypical…

Keith Farnan’s Sex Traffic - How Much Is That Woman In The Window? Is playing at the Underbelly on Cowgate 18:20. Book tickets from the Edinburgh Fringe site here

View Secret Edinburgh: Such Small Portions' map of over 50 comedians' favourite spots in the city in a larger map