Pravanya Pillay has supported Sophie Duker and Olga Koch on tour, the latter calling her ‘very, very funny’ and ‘the most fashionable person I know’. And London-based Pillay certainly has a pretty radical new look in mind for her Glasgow International Comedy Festival debut. ‘I love cycling because I feel like a vehicle; invincible,’ she explains. ‘I’m braver, taking risks I wouldn’t elsewhere. I was thinking “oh, this is so great. Imagine if I never had to get off? If I was attached to the bike, like a Bike Centaur?” It’s about wanting to escape. And saying the weird thing in your head out loud.’

Currently a work-in-progress, Pillay anticipates Bike Centaur pulling out into the traffic of the Edinburgh Fringe in 2026. The 30-year-old has already notched some impressive accolades from her three years of stand-up, including finishing third in So You Think You’re Funny? and being nominated for Channel 4’s Sean Lock Award and Chortle’s Best Newcomer. Television spots include Rhod Gilbert’s Growing Pains and shooting a stand-up set for the BBC’s Asian Network Comedy in Glasgow, alongside a string of Radio 4 writing credits.

Pillay was struggling with a medical degree in Bristol when she became obsessed with old Daily Show videos about the Iraq War. Running through her anecdotes, heightened with surrealist touches, is a preoccupation with New Labour too. ‘We’re all Labour in my family, quite politically engaged, and I’m interested in post-World War II British politics in general. For my cousins, who are ten, 15 years older, 1997 was a romantic time, a dawn of new hope. But I’m fascinated by electoral spin, the messaging behind it. And with Iraq, the fall from grace was pretty sharp.’

Despite the Daily Show influence, Pillay hasn’t gone down the satire route, realising it wasn’t really her scene. ‘But I’m really interested in that time period; it’s deep in the mix of stuff I’m pushing right now to see what fits.’

Pravanya Pillay performs Bike Centaur at Riding Room, Glasgow, Sunday 16 March.