Please tell us about your brand of comedy - what can audiences expect?
Tom Ward
A kind of celebration of life as we know it, sprinkled with pathos in a kind of 13:1 exuberance/pathos ratio. Any more than 1 unit of pathos can really tip the whole thing over board.
Which comedians have been your biggest influence?
Eddie Izzard, Phil Kay, Bill Hicks, Vic and Bob, Noel Fielding, Simon Amstell, Ben Elton, Chevy Chase, Jim Carrey, Martin Short, Richard Todd, Will Frankin.
What random things make you laugh in everyday life?
My girlfriend falling off the bed and her head landing perfectly inside an empty cake bowl.
My mum using the word 'sexy'. She's started doing so for the first time this year and it's deeply unnerving.
My friend Matt pretending to be a dirty old man with breathing difficulties, using the supermarket basket retainer as a Zimmer frame when in Sainsbury's. He is 56.
Please tell us about your best and worst moment on stage so far.
Best moments can kind of happen anytime when unique and unscripted things happen. On Sunday a woman told me of the time her son forgot all about his school sandwich for three weeks and how it had turned into liquid when they found and opened the Tupperware. I couldn't stop laughing. Tupperware is an integral part of the show, so this was very welcome.
Worst moment, 6 separate families walking out on me in great distress and disgust, before I realised it was a family show I had been booked to do a spot at. That was at Edinburgh 2015 (I hadn't read the email properly).
Do you still get nervous when you do a gig?
Absolutely, no matter what the gig. It's still always like a first date, you can never be entirely ready for everything that might happen.
Why is Edinburgh Fringe Festival such a great platform for comedians?
It's the place to be. It's buzzing with people that are hungry for comedy, it throws you into new and very different audiences every day and that tests you properly. Everyone seems to be there, and people seem to remember you from previous years and if they like you they tell people about you, which is very nice.
Who are you looking forward to seeing as an audience member?
Birthday Girls, The Strange Face Project, Sean McLoughlin, Mark Watson, Richard Todd.
What is your advice to aspiring comedians?
Keep going. It's good practice for when you realise you'll never arrive, however far you get. Just throw everything you have in there and enjoy every stage of it cos that's all there is.
What is the oddest heckle you've ever received?
"Hey mate, where's your face?"
It completely threw me. I tried to come up with a reply for weeks after.
What is next for you?
Gigs around the country, writing a show with my good mate Charlie (she's also my sister), a possible sub career as a Leonard Cohen tribute act, trying to get my mum to stop saying 'sexy' as soon as possible.
Tom Ward's debut stand up show 'Sex, Snails & Cassette Tapes' will be at the Pleasnace Courtyard Cellar at 9.45pm for the month of August for tickets go to www.edfringe.com
Tagged in Edinburgh Festival Fringe