After Carnival Of Monsters and Enemy of the World, Colin Hoult brings us Inferno for Edinburgh 2011. From the disturbingly fantastical to the comically pitiable, Hoult's unique characters welcome his audience to a bizarre and compelling world of high adventure, escapism and pathos. He will draw in his audience and before you know it, you're happily snorting like a pig in a room full of strangers. Lucy Wood finds out what we can expect from his new show.

Tell us about Inferno...

It's a maelstrom of loony characters, all would-be heroes trying to make sense of a nonsensical world. The audience is whisked through them at great speed. We play games, we sing songs, we go 'aye!' and are hopefully tickled and moved by all the shenanigans.

Do you deliberately set out to create a more theatrical experience?

Yes, indeed. One of the things I really enjoy is pushing what you can do in the context of a comedy show; using the crowd, playing with the setting. My biggest inspirations for all this stuff are theatre shows. I just think you have a room and lights and so on, might as well have a go at using them more.

I never really see the characters as dark. I don't aim to find the dark; more the pain they are in. I like surprising the audience and undermining expectations. I think a lot of life is pretty scary and there's always an undercurrent of fear and paranoia in most people.

But that's what I find most interesting the gulf between what people present to others and what's really going on inside.

You've been compared to The League Of Gentlemen and other great acts; who do you admire and what do you take inspiration from?

Comedy-wise, I love Chris Lilley and Arrested Development. I am definitely inspired by lots of people around me like Adam Riches, Josie Long, Danielle Ward and lots others. A lot of inspiration comes from books and films but mostly just from people I meet or have known.

How do you go about setting your thoughts onto the page, and eventually onto the stage? Is it a long process?

Yes, it's one I'm always trying to master. I do have a horrible tendency to change how I write all the time and I'm not great at the discipline.

I love writing the songs and poems the most as you just need to find the feel and rhythm then you just get to play with the words.

For the characters I normally write loads and loads and then keep trying it out on nights and try to remember what sticks.

I am a bastard for changing the script on stage though, but mainly because I like to try and adapt to the audience to some degree. In real life people do that, they don't just give you a prepared script so why shouldn't these characters (that's my defence anyway).

Your characters tend to have ugly traits, yet we recognise them and they feel familiar. Have you ever been tempted to really go for it and create a character without any redemptive features at all?

I did actually have a policeman character for this show who got cut at the final stage. I saw a policeman stop at the traffic lights and for some reason I started imagining him swearing his head off at people for no reason and it grew from there.

He is pretty irredeemable but we cut him as he didn't really fit with the others and felt more like he was from a different show, but I'll use him again for sure.

How far do you feel you've developed since, for example, your days with Fergus Craig?

I've definitely become someone who uses and hopefully works with the audience more and I'm better at riffing with that.

I think the characters are perhaps a bit deeper and more contradictory. Also I've worked more on the theatrics and show feeling. But I still love all the stuff we did together. I think it's different rather than better or worse.

Audience participation was a big part of last year's show; isn't that slightly dangerous?

I've never felt literally in danger. But there obviously is a chance the audience just won't want to join in on any level. I always try to make it inclusive rather than humiliating.

I think I started this year trying to get audience doing a certain thing and it takes a while to work out how to put that into words but actually as it goes on I'm enjoying following what the audience does more and running with that.

Has anyone ever refused to take part? How do you deal with that?

There's a point where you just have to move on to the next person, but if you can get a big laugh out of their refusal than you win anyway.

If you had to pick one character to become in reality, who would it be and why?

Probably Dog. (I play a dog). He's a very honest soul and very brave.

What would you be doing now if you weren't a performer?

Moaning / temping.

Who will you be seeing at the Fringe this year? Any recommendations?

Reed, Kerr, Tuck, Riches, Long, Key, O'Doherty. I like Imran Yusuf a lot. And Charlie Baker and all the other ones.

And finally, what's next after Edinburgh?

Doing a radio pilot, sort of a dark modern Canterbury tales and developing exciting things for TV. I'll be popping up in a few telly jobs and generally arsing about trying to write a book or something.

Colin Hoult's Inferno is on until the 28th August at the Pleasance Courtyard at 19:05. Listing