BD: Jimmy Carr was in the audience when I saw it at the Pleasance.

NH: Everyone could hear him laugh. He's been to see me every year since 2010. Whenever he laughed there was a ripple effect, laughing at the fact that Jimmy Carr was laughing.

BD: Some people walked out…

NH: I do say that it's not all gonna be funny, that's what good about it. There's something in there for everyone. This show is really about turning into a prick when you get famous. I was talking about what that means, some people were coming based on reviews and were disappointed, but I'm not responsible for other people's expectations, I'm responsible for the show and the people that do get it. People aren't entitled to get everything. I didn't pass an exam for this. It's not a job interview, if you don't like it that's fine. It's a valid reaction, but its not my fault. 

BD: The crowd was very mixed.

NH: It was nice that I had young people and people about 80-years-old that have also gone through life, that's an achievement. 

BD: Is Nick Helm your real name?

NH: Yes, but in hindsight maybe a stage name would have been better. 

BD: It's this strange thing - is he a Johnny Vegas-like character or you? When you are in Uncle is that part of your stage persona on TV. 

NH: Uncle is not the character. This isn't the Nick Helm sitcom, this is a TV show I am acting in, but there are elements of me. Whoever you see onstage it is very rarely the actual human being. I'm a three dimensional person in real life, when I do my stage show that's me writing stuff to make an audience laugh.

I guess the stage version is an extension of me, but it's been  becoming more of a character. It started off as me in 2009. It's a personification of how I feel about things. I'm a mild mannered polite man, who goes round wanting people to like me, but with all of that you bottle up a lot of anger and onstage is a release valve. It's cathartic but I wouldn't advise anyone else to go off and do it though. 

BD: you said Mega Myth is about successful people being pricks. I imagine you've seen people like that in comedy.

NH: You try to be as self-aware as possible about it. Evel Knievel was a terrible human being by all accounts. He put his life literally on the line and took challenges that meant certain death. His family was relying on him, but he did it for glory and fame. In stand-up I've given up holiday, family and friends and by the end of my show all I've got is a cat. I come out onstage saying I'm amazing but by the end it's me and a cat and I hate cats. Its a cautionary tale about what happens if you are an arsehole. If all you care about is fame and fortune you will end up with a cat that you are allergic to. It was about ego. Someone in a review last year said 'what's Nick Helm going to talk about next year, he is too successful too be the underdog?' but I think you can be successful and still feel like the underdog so I take it to extremes and fuck it up anyway.

BD: What do your parents think of One Man Mega Myth?

NH: My dad loved the show, my mum made the white Evel Knievel costume that I wear for a show I did in 2007. 

BD: Will you be back next year?

NH: I don't think I've got time. I barely had time to write my show this year. I love Edinburgh, a lot of comedians absolutely fucking hate it. I've got a lot of ideas but I just don't think I have enough time, but maybe a year off is good.

BD: You have a lot of music in your shows and in This Means War in 2012 you had a whole band, including David Trent onstage. Were you ever in a band?

NH: Only at school and we only did three gigs. The band thing happened quite organically. We did it on Live at the Electric so when Edinburgh rolled round I felt I had to do the thing people knew me for. What you going to do - an hour of navel gazing? You have to make your existing audience happy but do something you haven't done before. I'm reliant on my fanbase, but also attracting new people by doing things like 8 Out Of 10 Cats. Hopefully I'll get to a stage where everyone has caught up and I can take them all together. 

BD: In the last few years there has been this trend for "immersive" comedy, with you, Adam Riches and Dr Brown all getting audience members heavily involved in your shows. Why do you think this has suddenly happened? 

NH: I know why it happened with me. I think it was a coincidence to be honest There's no like secret cigar club where we hang out. For me getting everyone onstage was organic. I did it in Keep Hold Of The Gold when we had six people in, then as audiences grew 75 people I was still doing it. But to be honest I didn't really know what I was doing. It just happened really progressively. That was the reason why it did so well. Then the next year I got a guy on a mattress, then you are stuck with the idea that there are certain things an audience wants to see. I barely did any of it this year. I just paid  a bit of lip service to it, do it and move on.

BD: Theorists might say you want to connect with an audience in a way you can't on television…

NH: Maybe that's true, but I've never really considered myself one of those Live at the Apollo acts. What I do is very personal to me and very important to me. My goal in life was never to just get on telly. I've always said I'll try stuff, so we did the first series of Live at the Electric but not the second series. I've done some panel shows which are fine. But do you want to tell a joke people will remember for a bit or do something people will remember for years? If I come out and shout at you and you shit yourself even if you hate it you will remember it. Someone said my show is like the Saw ride at Thorpe Park. I'm not technically doing stand-up but also making people scared but in a safe environment.

BD: OK, compulsory question, what other comedians do you like?

NH: My hero is Jack Dee. But there's also Woody Allen, Steve Martin, Harry Hill, Stewart Lee, Richard Herring, Kenny Everett, Jasper Carrot, Les Dawson, Tommy Cooper. But why would I want to do the same as them, they've already done it. Maybe there are things that going into the cement mixer but they come out in a different way. I've never seen Johnny Vegas doing stand-up, only on Shooting Stars, and when I got compared to him I made sure I didn't. Still, it's better than people saying I'm like Justin Lee Collins.