August without Edinburgh fringe: 'the heart has been pulled out of my year'

Stage | The Guardian: Meeting Flight of the Conchords and seeing the teenage Bo Burnham. Improvising a musical with Tim Minchin and buying groceries for Michael Billington. The annual critics versus comedians football match and the bruises that followed. Watching my brains get blown out on stage. Too many all-night benders to mention – and better conversations at three in the morning than anywhere else at more civilised hours.