Spoken-word artist Ben Norris is bringing a show to the festival called 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Family'.

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

Well, first things first, I'm not a comedian, or at least I don't bill myself as one. That dubious honour goes to the nouns 'actor', 'writer' and 'spoken-word artist'. But that's not to say that bits of what I do aren't funny. I hope they are. Oh who gives a shit what people call themselves, it's all bollocks really isn't it? I'm just making work that I hope people find interesting/moving/thought-provoking/stimulating/funny, in various combinations and in various different outfits and silly voices.

I started acting when I was 13, writing plays and poetry at about 15/16, and only discovered spoken-word in 2011, when I was at University. But I took to it like a fish to a tuna sandwich, because it seemed to harmonise acting and poetry in an exciting way.

I'm really happy with where I'm at: I've just finished training at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, I've had writing broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and work staged at Theatre 503, Leicester Curve and the Royal Court. I've performed my poetry at Latitude, Royal Festival Hall, the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, Ronnie Scott's, Roundhouse, Udderbelly on Southbank, as well as at a handful of comedy nights including the Dave Leicester Comedy Festival and Stand Up & Slam. And now taking a piece to the Edinburgh Fringe... It feels really exciting to be able to combine the various strands of my career in a show like this.

2. Describe your show in exactly 23 words.

It's a one-man spoken-word-theatre show about me and my dad; the little we have in common, the lot we don't. And KitKat Chunkies.

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

Don't rub it in.

Well, the show means a lot to me - both in terms of what it's about (I've been wanting to write about my dad and I for years) and its form (as a I said, it's great to be able to write and perform something, and work on it with such a talented bunch of people).

Also, I won the IdeasTap Underbelly Award, so I can't run away. They won't let me.

4. Any cunning plans to get more punters in?

I think I'll stand by the side of Princes Street/North Bridge/the Mile with my thumb stuck up, a cardboard sign with the show's title on it, shouting 'PLEASE GIVE ME A LIFT BY WHICH I MEAN BUY A TICKET TO THIS, PLEASE GOD PLEASE' and then look really lost and sad when everyone inevitably ignores me.

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

I can't comment until my non-existent lawyer is present. But it's enough to make your granny cry, and not in a good way.

Actually I've been very lucky, with IdeasTap, Underbelly, the Arts Council and Apples and Snakes all chipping in. So granny might just cough and wince, rather than all-out weep.

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

I think simply being there for the whole month. I've only ever been as a punter before, and the lack of money and too much work stopped me from being there for more than a week at a time. So this year I might miss fewer of those unmissable shows you always hear about and then think of wistfully on that long coach journey home.

7. What other shows are you hoping to see?

Rob Auton is always so charming and lovely. I want to see Jack Rooke's show if only to see how much better he's done the 'dad-narrative'. He's also a mate. Antler Theatre are always great. And the other IU Award-winning shows. But that's the tip of a very long tickety iceberg. Ask me again in mid-August and I'll have a hundred more.

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

Stewart Lee
Eddie Izzard
Sandi Toksvig
Robin Williams
David O'Doherty
Bo Burnham
Susan Calman
Simon Amstel
Miles Jupp
David Mitchell
and my mates Tyler Harding, Jacob Lovick and Chazz Redhead, because they deserve the work and they're bloody funny.

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

The other Ben Norris. He's a lovely chap, but he's a stand-up and he won't be very happy that you've asked me to do this interview.

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

The fringe is nightmarishly busy and frantic and overwhelming, and everyone's always tired or hungover or experiencing some other kind of sensory onslaught. With this show, I want to create a moment for people to breathe and think and maybe, just maybe, feel. But not in a wanky let's all do some breath swings and then look at each other in silence until one or both of us cries drama school way. (Although I do have a lot of time for that.)

This show wears its heart on its sleeve, and I think (/hope) that it will really speak to people in the circus that is mid-festival Edinburgh.

'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Family' is at 4:40pm at Underbelly, Cowgate on 6-17, 19-30 August. Listing