He may have been attacked on stage last year but it'll take more than that to stop Andrew Maxwell returning to the Edinburgh Fringe.

The Irish comic, who once made a heckler cry, was only six minutes into his 2014 show about the Scottish referendum when an independence supporter threw a pint of beer at him.

However, determined to continue, Maxwell performed the rest of his hour-long show topless and won a Herald Angels award for his triumph in the face of adversity.

He said: "It was an amazing moment, the guy thought he was striking a blow for Scottish freedom and everybody went nuts at him.

"I was furious, I'm not going to lie to you, inside the dude from Dublin was about to come out. It's the only time I've ever been attacked on stage and it was by a Scottish Nationalist.

"I'm the only comedian who's ever done a gig for the IRA and the UDA in West Belfast on the same night, I've recorded a live album in a maximum security prison and they were all better behaved."

Maxwell says the incident will not affect his new show Yo Contraire when it opens at the Fringe on August 5, with no topic off limits. However, he believes the rise of Twitter has put some comedians off discussing certain subjects for fear of reprisals.

He said: "I think some of the younger boys and girls definitely, but they're from that generation. I couldn't give a monkeys. If every tweet cost a stamp, people would have a lot fewer opinions."

Maxwell, known for his shrewd political observations, was shocked that no other comedians chose to speak about the referendum during last year's Fringe, and claims on-line trolling played a part in silencing artists.

He said: "It really stung me and it upset me, because I thought there's some serious silencing going on here. In the case of the Scottish referendum, there was so much absurdity and dislocation in both sides, it was all there to be played with. My concern beforehand was everybody's going to be at this and then I got to the Fringe and nobody was.

"A lot of people were silenced way in advance. There was a lot of really hateful trolling, and very energetic and organised as well, and I think that played a part."

However, he was not surprised by the referendum's result and what came next.

He added: "Scotland is a deeply Conservative place. Most Scottish people, as we know from elections from the last 30 years, are not largely Conservative and Unionist Party voters but they're schmaltzy Conservatives, they're like everybody else. It's a curious compromise, no to independence but yes to the Independence Party.

"Your country was once all Tory, then it became all Labour and now it's all SNP, it's never done by halves. Who knows what's next?"

Maxwell's return to the Fringe marks his 21st year performing at the festival. He may not have written the show yet but fans will not be disappointed with his latest offering.

He said: "My mind's alive to it. If you set it in stone too much you lose interest and half way through the Fringe you're only performing in half measures. I don't want to take the audience for granted.

"It will be more of the usual. It's partly my own life, I'm a news junkie so it'll be what's going on in the news, what's in the zeitgeist and the world around me and then I'll get to Edinburgh and there will be something ridiculous involving junkies or underachieving local football teams or vain glorious politicos, there's always something."

The comedian confesses it's his love of Edinburgh that keeps bringing him back to the Scottish capital.

He added: "At the end of the day I do the Fringe because I love Edinburgh. I think it's an amazing thing to do, to spend a month in Edinburgh at the biggest arts festival in the history of humanity.

"In terms of golf, I'm not a golfer but all other comedy festivals including my own Altitude are invitationals whereas Edinburgh's The Open. Any fruitcake with a dream can come to Edinburgh and give it a go and that's what excites me. There are lunatics putting shows on, they're sleeping in their car and then they're performing in their car. Every possible space is being used by someone with a crazy dream."

Andrew Maxwell will perform Yo Contraire at Assembly George Square Theatre, August 5-16.