Zoe Lyons has spent over a decade working her way up the comedy ladder, from stand-up to live TV, and most recently an appearance in a travel commercial.

Zoe seems to have done it all. Ahead of her show at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, Jamie Walker caught up with her to talk comedy, creativity and fly impressions.

It’s a surreal experience picking up the phone to call Zoe Lyons.

In many ways, I’m unsure what to expect.

This is a woman who I’ve seen grace the stage, and my television, on many occasions.

A buzz of questions flow through my mind; what will she be like? What if I get starstruck and immediately forget all my questions? What if she gets bored with the conversation?

As it turns out, any fears I may have had were totally vanquished within the first minute of our conversation.

Zoe is a delight to talk to, down to earth and confident in what she’s saying – I suppose you need to be as a comedian don’t you?

Like many of the comedians that have filled these pages in recent weeks, Zoe is one of a host of Brighton-based performers who will be heading to Scotland in August to take their place at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Entry Level Human is the name of her show.

Many would argue that the career Zoe has had would merit her as more than simply “entry level”, but perhaps she is simply underplaying her ability.

“I touch on various topics, none of them are particularly ground-breaking or world-changing, but I go in and out of topical stuff as well as just absolute nonsense,” that’s the way Zoe describes the show that she’ll perform in a month’s time.

“My show doesn’t have a theme so much, if anything it’s just celebrating the stupidity of humanity, I mean there’s a lot of it about at the moment.”

If you’ve seen Zoe perform live before then you’ll know the phrase “nonsense” is very much justified.

She has a way of making people laugh at the strangest, silliest and most bizarre things, and it’s pure gold.

Again, as with many of the stand-up comics I’ve had the pleasure of talking to ahead of the Fringe, Zoe says that whilst life on the road is fun, it is the stability that a run in Edinburgh offers that makes it so appealing. She says: “It’s nice not to have to think about where you are going to be every night. You wake up and it’s a bit like Groundhog Day, but that’s actually quite a comfort, instead of spending weeks or months travelling round different places.

“At the moment I’m waking up wondering where the hell I’m going that day, doing a map search of Google Maps and thinking ‘Where the hell is that, why have I agreed to do that?’.

“Knowing where you are and what you’re doing is really nice.”

I have to agree.

I mean I’m not a performer, nor do I have any real desire to be, but I can imagine that if I was it would be the touring that I would have the toughest time with.

It’s nice to know where you’re going to be day-after-day.

Zoe is one of a whole host of stand-ups who will be taking on the previews circuit ahead of Edinburgh Fringe.

Unsurprisingly, she believes it is an absolutely essential part of the process. She adds: “The previews are usually fairly ropey because you’ve just got a handful of ideas that you’ve never really spoken about before.

“I did a preview in Horsham and I just got one or two extra lines out of it, little things that make it worthwhile – to come away knowing you’ve got an extra joke. So I really love that side of it, watching it grow.”

However, all the preparation in the world can only get you so far.

Zoe adds that even with a solid set you’ll still be able to improve your set as the month progresses: “The last week of August, where you’ve already been in Edinburgh for three weeks, will be when you’re wishing you had certain other bits in the show. You’re constantly fine-tuning it and working on it and it really takes the whole run of Edinburgh to get it really good.”

There is of course a certain pressure that comes with playing the Fringe.

Widely regarded as the biggest comedy event of the year, the month long run of shows can be quite overwhelming, but for Zoe, it is important to have a good time.

“Comedians are self-obsessed, we’re narcissistic to a degree, so you get 1,000 of us in a city over a month and it’s going to create some sort of lay-line. It can be good but it can be irritating, at the end of the day it is an arts festival. The trick of succeeding at it is to remember to have fun.”

The list of comedians that grace our fine city is really quite impressive; Angela Barnes, Simon Evans, Laura Lexx, George Egg and of course Zoe herself are all names that have set up residence by the seaside, and that’s not even naming a small portion of the full list.

Zoe says that it is the creativity that is inherent in Brighton that means comedians flock here. “It’s such a creative hub, this place. People go out, that’s the other thing, people will go out on a Friday or Saturday night and see stuff, so it’s good for performing and it’s a good audience; they’re aware of themselves but they’re also quite comedy savvy.

“I just think it’s another happy symptom of the city we live in which is this creative space. I mean everyone here knows an illustrator don’t they…?”

Creativity is of course rife in the city, that’s another reason that it’s such a popular holiday destination.

Speaking of holidays – see that segue I just pulled off – that’s what Zoe has been selling recently.

It was the day before I was due to speak to her that I first noticed this, I didn’t have it in my list of questions but immediately added it.

I was sitting, innocently, watching TV when who should appear on my screen but the faces of Zoe Lyons and Mark Watson.

Usually I’m used to seeing them pop up on my screen in a comedy capacity, but this was an advert for travel company Tui.

The pair seemed to be playing a happy couple on a wonderful holiday – I wonder how much acting was required on their respective parts to pull that off.

“I’d auditioned for adverts before and never got them,” Zoe said

“I loved it, it’s brilliant. We were left to our own devices and it was mostly improvised. They told us what they wanted and then Mark and I would have a chat and run it through. I got a week in Jamaica, in January, what’s not to like?

“They’ve been quite popular and Tui were very happy with them, so we’ll have to wait and see. I definitely wouldn’t turn it down if they asked again.”

Why would you? A free holiday? I think we’d all like that.

I’m hoping they ask me next, think you can hook me up Zoe?