For my money, Dyball and Kerr are the best double act working the UK circuit today.

Richard and Alastair previewed their all-new sketch show - named Lord Of The Ferrets: Fellowship Of The Beaver - to a rapturous reception during the Brighton Festival.

Since then, they have been whittling it down ready for this year's Edinburgh Festival.

The show seemed to start slowly and took a couple of skits to find its rhythm.

The warm-up man Bobby Sunshine, a washed-out stand-up, was a good idea but was on stage too long and the material was not up to the high standard of the rest of the show.

However, once it was in its stride, Lord Of The Ferrets was an unstoppable, relentless juggernaut of jokes.

Dyball and Kerr's approach is very traditional but they infuse all their work with an intelligence and wit you rarely see on the stage any more.

As always, their characters were carefully drawn and their observations served with trademark whimsy.

As with all great double acts, the interaction between the duo received as many laughs as the devastating punchlines and payoffs.

There were some absolute howlers, including the anthropologist sketch and the mid-show appraisals, where they mercilessly ripped into the meaningless vacuum that is corporate-speak.

The stand-out sketch was Raging Bull: The Musical, which was worth the ticket price on its own.

The D&K mine has yielded much comedy gold during the years and this trimmer, leaner show will help them cement their reputation as Edinburgh favourites.