Belgian comedy star and physicist Lieven Scheire talks to us about his first Fringe.

1. Tell us about your career so far. Are you happy with where you're at?

I started doing stand-up comedy in the year 2001, while I was studying physics in Ghent. At the same time I started touring with my sketch-comedy group Neveneffecten. The sketch-comedy career took off a bit faster. We won the Groninger comedy Festival main award in 2003, and have been writing and performing our own sketch-shows on TV since 2005.

For four years I've had a science show on Belgian national TV, and I also do stand-up comedy about science, technology and general geekiness. At the Fringe my comedy show includes the juicy subject of Einstein's Special Relativity.

2. Describe your show in exactly 23 words.

When everything goes right the audience leaves the theatre with a basic understanding of Special Relativity and a fresh load of geeky jokes.

3. Why are you putting yourself through this famously stressful experience?

Science comedy is steadily becoming a genre here in the UK, with a dedicated group of performers playing entertaining science shows for a broad audience. I am kind of the only kid on this playground in Belgium. The Fringe seemed the perfect place to come and meet the other performers and the Anglo-Saxon audience.

4. Any cunning plans to get more punters in?

Since, of course, we physicists know the tricks to bend space-time I could maybe create a few wormholes that lead from the entrances of a few other venues to mine.

5. How much money do you think you'll lose/make this year?

I hope to be break even at the end, but I have a logarithmic scale ready to measure my losses if necessary.

6. What are you most looking forward to about your first Edinburgh Festival?

It feels quite adventurous to start from the bottom again. Trying to fill a 50 seater venue 25 times, fighting for promo-opportunities, enthusiastically saying yes to every interview or podcast or unpaid guest appearance... It feels like the Fringe can let you redo your first two years as a comedian in just one month. I am very curious for the outcome of this rollercoaster ride.

7. What other shows are you hoping to see?

Festival of the Spoken Nerd and John Lloyd.

8. If you took over programming a venue, what would you perfect line-up of comedians be?

George Carlin, Tim Minchin, Louis C.K., Dara O Briain, Eddie Izzard and a few sketches by the young Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.

9. Name the one person you'd rather not bump into during the festival.

Anyone made of anti-matter.

10. Why should audiences pick your show over the 1,700+ other comedy offerings at this year's festival?

Cocktail party knowledge of the Theory of Relativity and a good amount of geeky jokes to fire at your company's IT-er when needed will simply make you a stronger and more stable person in our post-modern society.

'The Wonderful World of Lieven Scheire' is at 3pm at Gilded Balloon on 5-16, 18-23, 25-31 August. Listing