Hello, what’s your name, and what on earth are you going to be doing in Edinburgh this August?

My name is Tiff Stevenson and I am performing my new stand up show Uncomfortably Numb.

Tell us more about your show...

It's about growing older and what happens to our faces, political views and tolerance levels. I am very excited, it's stuff that I care about and I think that's when I am at my funniest.

That's a very broad description isn't it? Can you add these tags too?  'Lady GaGa' 'Justin Beiber' ‘Euro2012' 'Olympics' 'Eurozone' 'Amazeballs' – They have nothing to do with my show but will capture everyone Googling ;-)

How are you preparing for your marathon Fringe run?

By 'marathon' do you mean the whole month? That's just standard isn't it? I've been doing that since my first fringe in 2006. Obviously I will start warming up my drinking in July and I've been practising how to avoid irritating people since January.

Food and/or drink – what do you take to keep you going through the madness?

Vitamin C and feeding off my own ego mainly. I have got food poisoning at the fringe for the last two years so this year I will stick to what I know. My favourite haunts are Double Dutch, Bonsai, Red Fort and Urban Angel.

If I get a chance I'll pop to the Scottish Whisky Society for many single malts and piles of haggis, neeps and tatties.

London’s taken some of the hype with the Olympics this year – what do you think is the best way for Edinburgh to grab it back?

By not being involved in a sporting event and generally not looking like a building site. You've already taken it back I think...

What’s your favourite part of the Edinburgh festivals?

The first moment the train pulls into Waverley, the ole ticker starts pounding. It's the beauty of the architecture, the thrill of possibility and the feeling like you've just taken a big laxative. For comics it’s our summer home and the theatre of dreams.

What would be your biggest piece of advice to any performers coming to Edinburgh for the first time?

Enjoy it! These will be the times you remember when you are tucked away in a retirement home. Don't waste too much energy thinking about the reviews and give your all to the audience who have paid their hard-earned cash and taken a chance on you. If you can try and have at least one Karen Koren/Addison Cresswell/Peter Buckley Hill story by the end of it.

Whoever else are you most excited to see in Edinburgh this year?

• Lady Carol in Lady Carol Must Die - beautiful songs and funny stories
• Felicity Ward and Celia Pacquola - Great Aussie comics
• Rob Beckett who is doing his first hour at The Pleasance

What’s been your most memorable festival experience?

Probably the drunken afternoon I ended up in the Queens Archery because Mike McShane met a fellow ex veteran in a pub. It was all very surreal, at one point we were shown a cellar where someone had hung themselves....nice.

Any favourite Scottish word/phrase?

Chebs - a mate once told a bride that she had 'smashing chebs' ON HER WEDDING DAY.

And what would be your best tip for any punters coming to their first Fringe?

Obviously come and see my show 7.50pm at Underbelly Cowgate, walk up Arthur's seat, avoid the Royal Mile in the afternoon, watch the bouncy castle play – I think it was Dracula last year – take a punt on at least one act you've never heard of, go afterhours drinking at the Penny Black, take photos, vomit in at least one bin/alleyway, visit the national museum, drink whisky, cry at a stranger in the loos, fall in love.

• Tiffany Stevenson’s new stand up show ‘Uncomfortably Numb’ will be at the Underbelly from 2^nd – 26^th August for tickets go to edfringe.com