What do you think might work out as the best piece of advice you receive ahead of your Fringe debut?
Play every show like you're enjoying every minute of it.

What do you expect will be the least useful piece of advice?
Play every show like you're enjoying every minute of it.

Imagine this is September: looking back at August, what would constitute a successful Fringe?
Feeling like I'm a better comic than I was in July.

In krugerrands, how much do you expect to lose during the Fringe?
Not as much as I would have done if I'd done it in a paid venue, which is scary because it's still costing me a fortune. With a bit of luck, I might find the odd krugerrand in my donations bucket.

Back in the old days, there used to be a thing called ‘the festival shag’. Is this ancient tradition likely to play any part in your thinking during August?
Well, my girlfriend will be at the festival too, so … probably not. BOOM! Aren't men and women different etc, etc.

Back in the old days, comedians would drink alcohol solidly for a whole month and still manage to get out and do their show every day: how much are you likely to imbibe per day?
I tend not to drink at all before a show anymore: I had a few bad gigs when I had drunk beforehand. I had some good ones too, but it became a variable that was easier to control if I just didn't. The 24-hour drinking Edinburgh comic is a romantic idea that I quite like but I suspect I just don't really have the constitution for in practice. Plus I just respect my audience too much. Please come to my show.

What qualities do you expect from a Fringe venue?
I expect a Fringe venue to be a damp, dark cave, or hut, perhaps with a leaking ceiling, gaffer tape marking out the stage, bad lighting and perhaps a microphone that doesn't work, so I'm very rarely disappointed.

Will you read your reviews before your run is over and if so, how do you think they will affect you as a comedian and as a human being?
I don't think that I'll be able to stop myself. They say curiosity killed the cat, so for every bad review I read I WILL murder a kitten. I don't want to do that but it's out of my hands.

Next year, will you consider returning as a double act?
Yeah, I definitely would. I love collaborating with people and I find it much easier than being on my own. It would have to be the right person of course. Perhaps Tommy Cannon or one of the Chuckle Brothers would be good.

Do you undertake any superstitious rituals before going on stage?
In the five minutes before I go on stage I choose to believe in ghosts.

If you were about to perform at the Fringe for your tenth year, where would you expect your career to be at that point?
Hopefully playing every show and enjoying every minute of it.

Cabaret Voltaire, 226 0000, 3–24 Aug (not 14), 2.35pm, free.

Nathaniel Metcalfe @ Comedy De Luxe