Do you Adam and Eve it...?

This year's brochure for the Edinburgh Fringe festival is fatter than ever. But so, incidentally, is the one for the Camden Fringe: a month-long mixed bag of stand-up, sketch, character comedy and theatre acts - here because they can't devote all their time to, or baulk at, the Edinburgh juggernaut.

In keeping with the fringe spirit, you won't recognise many of the artists. But that's no bad thing. With few critics or whopping expenses to contend with, the Camden Fringe is a valuable springboard for newbies wanting to experiment in a less heady festival environment than Edinburgh.

There are a few names you might recognise, including the waspish Scott Capurro, talented comedy songwriter Pete Gold and the likeable stand-up Paul Kerensa, who will perform his new show, a tongue-in-cheek dissection of the book of Genesis, at the Liberties Bar for six performances from 4 August.

Given that Kerensa did a theology degree, has a casual bent towards the Church of England and rarely talks about religion on the secular circuit, his show Genesis is the Fringe's most interesting proposition.

'It's very difficult to profess your religion without completely mocking it. But I do a bit in the show - and quite rightly so, because I fully admit it's a train of thought without any logic whatsoever,' he reasons, before expanding on his explorations of the Good Book. ('Leviticus basically just says that women can't wear speckled hats on a Thursday. That's it, really.')

But Kerensa is also popular on the non-secular circuit - and if you're lucky, Genesis might contain some entertaining stories of his holier-than-thou crowd.

'Vicars always tell me how they try to work jokes into their sermons. I once did this gig for about 150 vicars, and they were all writing down the jokes.

'So cheeky. Thou shalt not steal! It's in the Bible!'

Nightly special guests - spanning religious types to staunch atheists - will spice up proceedings.

Kerensa's broad appeal is reflected in the rest of the Fringe programme - sex, Princess Diana, hostage taking, flamenco and dentistry are the sort of topics that crop up in other comedy and theatre shows, if you can't stomach any religious wrangling.

Be they funny or serious, low budget or hi-tech, hopefully they all take a leaf out of Kerensa's book. 'I'm really hoping that whoever comes down, whether they're a vicar or satanist, will go away a little bit challenged by something they've heard,' he declares. 'Or at least knowing something they didn't at the start...'

30 July until 26 Aug, Etcetera Theatre, The Oxford Arms, 265 Camden High Street NW1 and Liberties Bar, 100 Camden High Street NW1, various times and prices.
Tel: 020 7482 4857.
www.camdenfringe.org
Tube: Camden Town