You are one of only three Australian acts ever to win the if. comedy Award, Britain's highest accolade for comedy. Was it a long, hard road getting to this award?

Yes, if there was an award for being Edinburgh's least nominated act then I'd get that too.

Has winning this award opened more doors for you?

Hmm… well everything that I've got from the Edinburgh show, Montreal, the pilot, interest in a book etc was secured well before the award, but yes in Australia. Not so much in Britain because I think the panellists in the past, with the exception of last year's winner Phil Nichol, tried too hard to have their own little discovery rather than listening to the weight of the industry. It's like, 'ok you've won, now what are you going to do?' No discredit to previous winners, but if you haven't been doing this for 15 or so years you're not capable of writing a series on your own as you've no back catalogue to draw on. The backlash and expectations are immediate and rightfully so. I hope to bust my arse and represent this as best I can, so that in five years time they (the judges) feel like 'yeah we got the right guy'.

This award should be a skyrocket for one's career. The Edinburgh festival is the toughest gig going. More intense, harder work, longer hours, greater scrutiny and fantastic competition. The best in the world go there to play and there's more invention and experimentation going on there than anywhere else in the world. It should be the be all and end all in our industry and I hope they're back on track with it. I'm a fringe act and no matter what happens from here I will always plug the shit out of it and treat it with the respect it deserves. Not for my own benefit, cos obviously it won't do anything for me now, but rather I want the next guy to be an immediate success story, cos frankly, if they pick the right person, they f***ing should. So no, it hasn't really, but if I do the right thing by it, the next guy should.

What is your secret to success?

How does anyone answer that without sounding like a wanker? Ermm… I never ever considered giving up. No wait, that's not true. I considered it but never gave up.

Tickets, €17.50, are available from the Róisín Dubh. Doors open at 9pm.

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