Hailing from South Africa, Pierre Novellie landed on UK shores back when he was still running around the schoolyard. In his Edinburgh show, Pierre Novellie is Mighty Peter he discusses his fascination with historic British civilizations, mythical giants, Medieval Welsh Law and yoghurt.

“I tried to avoid it being a highlights reel show but it’s not narrative driven – it’s just a circular discussion, me talking about identity, becoming British and unemployed life through stand up.”

How do you describe your style of comedy?

“Observational, probably. I never used to think it was “a bit clever” but some people have said that, so perhaps it is.”

You’ve were Vice President of the Cambridge Footlights, do you miss being part of that team?

“It’s always easier writing scripts as part of a team, bouncing ideas off each other and so on, but stand up is written and performed alone the vast majority of the time, so that hasn’t really changed. That said, it was a lot of fun.”

Who inspired you to start performing stand-up?

“I just wanted to try it to see if I was funny, really, as I had so many comedy heroes. There isn’t one particular comic who is my Frankenstein, but Glenn Wool’s China routine was inspiring to see at sixteen.”

If you were curating a stand up show for television, who would be on the bill?

“Glenn Wool, Dave Chappelle, Doug Stanhope, Adam Buxton, Dara O’Briain, Tim Key, Mark Watson and Stewart Lee.”