Tom Neenan answers our questions ahead of Tom Neenan: Portrait of a Tom as a Young Neenan heading to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Tom Neenan: Portrait of a Tom as a Young Neenan is the new show from BAFTA-nominated writer and comedian Tom Neenan, head writer of The Mash Report and creator/star of the BBC Radio 4 comedy series The Hauntening. About art, identity, body image and the exhausting business of trying to become a version of yourself you can actually live with. the show explores self-perception, creativity and male shame through the kind of spiralling over-analysis that has become a hallmark of Neenan’s comedy. We chat to Tom about the disastrous portrait commission of an 86-year-old man that sparked the show, comparing a show to a ships in a bottle, and overthinking.

The show starts with a commission to paint the portrait of an 86-year-old man. How did one painting become the backbone of an entire comedy show?

My favourite shows are those that revolve around a single story. I’ve loved shows by Nish Kumar, Alex Edelman and Beth Stelling’s landlady special that all revolve around a single story and have branches and diversions off of that central narrative.

You've built a reputation for beautifully constructed shows full of callbacks and twists. Do you know where a show is going before you start writing, or do you discover the structure as you go?

First of all, thank you. Secondly, I try not to go in with too clear a structure in my head and let the narrative come from a natural place.

The portrait at the centre of the story keeps being revised and rejected. As someone known for tightly constructed comedy, did you find any parallels between that process and the way you build a show?

100%. I present jokes to an audience, and they will not be subtle in whether they think they are any good or not. The same is true with a painting. You want a direct, honest response and a thick skin.

You describe the show as being about art, identity, body image and self-worth. Was there one thread that pulled the others together, or did they gradually become connected as you worked on the material?

I’m honestly not sure the show ties all of these together until the end. Which I guess is for the best. Someone cleverer than me – maybe Stu Goldsmith, maybe someone Stu Goldsmith was interviewing, describes the ideal show as like a ship in a bottle. The last thing you do is raise the masts, and suddenly the ship is complete. A show should be a bit like that.

The show touches on creativity in the age of AI through the very practical problem of trying to paint a portrait. Why did that feel like a useful way into the subject?

Because visual art is one of the key areas that AI wants to dominate, and annoyingly its quite good it. You can get pretty good images out of AI. But my thesis is that without the human element, there is something crucial missing from these images that ignore at our peril.

You describe over-analysis as something of a hallmark of your comedy. Has writing this show taught you there's such a thing as thinking too much... or is that simply where all your best material comes from?

My favourite comedians are all overthinkers. I don’t want to examine why.

You've spent much of your career writing for television, radio and satire shows. What does performing at the Edinburgh Fringe allow you to explore that those formats don't?

We’re constantly told that TV audiences have low attention spans. I don’t think that’s true. And every year at the fringe people queue up to spend a full hour listening to someone talking without looking at their phone. The fringe allows space and time and room to breathe.

Tom Neenan: Portrait of a Tom as a Young Neenan will be performed at 3:15pm at Underbelly George Square from 5th-30th August. Booking link:https://underbellyedinburgh.co.uk/event/tom-neenan-portrait-of-a-tom-as-a-young-neenan