Bilal Zafar has quite a premise for his show this year

Bilal Zafar is back at the Fringe with a brand-new show that has an intriguing premise.

What's Imposter about?

It is a true story about when my old house mate began to believe he was a secret agent and tried to get me arrested several times in 24 hours. This was a week before my wedding, which was obviously stressful enough.

What are your passions off-stage?

I love creating comedy on Twitch, it's a whole new audience, it's completely different to stand-up and very rewarding. I also got obsessed with cooking over lockdown. I bought a slow cooker which absolutely changed my life. Getting a good slow cook on the go is very therapeutic for me.

What's been your favourite preview this year and why?

My favourite preview has been at the ARG Comedy Festival in London. Audiences buy day tickets rather than individual tickets for shows and it had a very nice festival atmosphere with brilliant audiences. Exactly what you need when you're trying to get a show in shape.

What would a better Fringe look like?

It all comes down to the cost of accommodation. If it was affordable, the Fringe would be a very different place. Other things at the festival can also cost a lot but with a bit of experience, you can navigate and get good deals. But the cost of staying there for a month just means working class performers are being priced out and we'll have less and less of them year by year. I'm not sure when I'll be at the Fringe again after this year.

How would you describe your ideal career / career goals?

It always changes. I got married this year and having to rent a bigger place combined with the cost of living crisis has made things tough. I would love to be in a position where I'm not stressed about money and can continue to write and create comedy.

I've thought a lot about whether I want to be famous and I think my ideal aim would be to have a large cult following where people that like me know me and I don't get random people asking me if I'm famous because I look familiar.

What was the moment that you knew comedy was for you?

In 2015, when I was 23 years old and very new to comedy, I entered Leicester Square Theatre New Comedian of the Year, got runner up and a £500 cheque (I had never been given a cheque before). At the time I really wasn't sure if I was good enough to ever do it professionally or even do a set longer than 5 minutes so it meant so much. I was also a big fan of Richard Herring who handed me the runner up certificate and cheque. I know him now so it's not as exciting when I see him.

Which shows are looking forward to seeing?

There are too many to remember but; Paul Chowdhry, Sooz Kempner, Rosco Mcclelland, Marjolein Robertson, Christopher Macarthur-Boyd, Liam Withnail, Paul Sinha, Myra Dubois, Mark Thomas.