Made me full: One of the great revelations of the Edinburgh Festival, for me, was seeing the Russian clown troupe Derevo make their Fringe debut with Red Zone in a midnight show at the Pleasance. It was strange and wonderful and I gave it a five-star review. But not everyone liked it. They were interrupted one night by a very Edinburgh protest: an audience member throwing an entire salmon on stage. Waste not, want not, they cooked this and served it with icy vodka at an after-show party. That is the only time I have ever eaten a heckle.

Made me grateful: When Claude Berri’s Lucie Aubrac came to the Film Festival in 1997, I had the honour of interviewing the woman after whom the picture was named. Lucie Aubrac was a hero of the French Resistance, a real badass. By the time I met her, she was in her mid-80s. I didn’t do a good job of writing about her, but I have a keen sense of privilege (and almost disbelief) at having spent an hour in the life of this figure from history.

Made me blush: I remember having my arse grabbed by Sean Hughes late one night at The Green Tree in the Cowgate. This was, I recall, his way of trying to persuade me to write about a particular comedian he rated. But it seems to me now a story of transience. Sean and the pub are both gone and the arse, frankly, is fading fast.

Peter Ross: Journeys In Ancient Britain And Ireland, Edinburgh Futures Institute, 24 August, 2pm; picture: James Ross.

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