The Fringe festival began at the weekend (BBC)

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival has always been a magnet for artists and performers from around the world.

American, Australian and Canadian comedians in particular have enjoyed huge success.

But what is unusual this year is the large number of comedians from non-English speaking countries - there have never been so many.

Howard Read was the only British comedian shortlisted for the famous comedy competition the Perrier Award last year. He believes foreign comedians are often funnier than home-grown talent.

"I think it's easier for them to surprise us," he says.

"A lot of comedy comes from having a different take on a subject. If someone's lived next to me for my entire life they are probably not going to say something that will make my eyebrows go up.

"Whereas when you've got a Japanese person talking about something we find familiar, that's got loads of comic potential because they're Japanese and our cultures are so different, the language is so different and the way Japanese people look at the world is so completely different."

But Kate Copstick, the chief comedy critic for The Scotsman newspaper and a Perrier Award Judge this year, is not so sure.

"People will go along to see non-English speaking comedy, at its best as a curiosity and to put it at its least charitable, as a freak show or a gimmick," she says.

The Kakashu comedy spectacular from Japan is delighting and perplexing audiences in equal measure. Described as sit-down comedy rather than stand-up it features puppetry, ventriloquism and origami .

"Japanese jokes are not like English jokes," says Ayako, the only female member of the cast.

"Sometimes English jokes hurt people, they are sarcastic. Japanese jokes are not like that. We are more likely to poke fun at ourselves."

Carl-Einer Hackner is Sweden's best-known comedian, and is making his UK debut at the Fringe this year.

His show combines magic, mime and music and features a canine Houdini and a violin from Ikea. It is proving a popular mix. But he admits he has had to tailor his performance for a British audience.

(Agencies)

magnet: a characteristic that provides pleasure and attracts（有吸引力的人或物）

shortlist: put someone or something on a list of applicants who have been deemed suitable and from which the successful person will be chosen（列入供最后挑选(或考虑)用的候选人名单）

freak: a rare and unpredictable event（怪诞的思想、行动或事件）

ventriloquism: the art of projecting your voice so that it seems to come from another source (as from a ventriloquist's dummy)（口技）

origami: the Japanese art of folding paper into shapes representing objects（折纸手工）