GROWING up in Bradford turned out to be a barrel of laughs for Jonny Pelham.

Well, maybe not a barrel full - but it provided a rich seam of comic material that he mined for his debut show at last year's Edinburgh Festival.

Called Before and After, the show saw the Bradford comic reflect on his upbringing in Undercliffe, being the only white boy in an all-Bengali gang and being born with popliteal pterygium syndrome, a rare genetic disorder which affects the body's development.

The show won rave reviews, and Jonny was highlighted as a rising talent on the comedy circuit.

This month he's back in Edinburgh with a new show, Fools Paradise. It explores, he says, his "inability to act". To explain, Jonny recounts recently sitting in a coffee shop, watching someone have their phone stolen and not doing anything about it. In Fool’s Paradise he explores why he's the sort of person who observes rather than acts and why doing nothing probably isn't good enough.

"It touches on my upbringing in Bradford but it's a totally different show," says Jonny. "I live in London now so I talk about my life there, in a hipster neighbourhood which is very different from where I grew up."

Jonny got into comedy in his first week at university. "I signed up at fresher's week for comedy nights and did lots of student gigs. I did well in a few New Act competitions and started getting onto professional bills," he says.

Jonny was runner-up in So You Think You’re Funny? and Chortle Student Comedian of the Year competitions. He was also nominated as best newcomer in the Chortle Awards 2014, the Judges’ Choice in the BBC Radio New Comedy Awards and was one of Time Out’s favourite new acts in 2014.

Described as a "modest, unshowy performer" with a relaxed, self-effacing strand, Jonny draws on his own experiences, telling a series of stories which twist and turn their way towards shock punchlines. He has won praise from critics for searingly honest routines which touch on the medical condition he was born with.

Being offered facial correction surgery by the NHS had him reflecting on how something he didn’t think he needed would affect his confidence. And being sent, as a child, to a 'Camp Courage' for youngsters with disabilities inspired a hilarious routine about toe-curlingly patronising camp leaders.

"I went into all that stuff in my first show because it's part of who I am and what I've experienced. It was good to have a bit of an angle when I was starting out," says Jonny, 24. "Turning it into comedy was quite theraputic at the time, but I feel I've done that now. I've talked about it enough. This new show moves on from that.

"Last year's show was my history. This show is where I am now."

Jonny went to Challenge College before studying for a degree in International Political Economics at Newcastle University. "I knew early on that comedy was what I wanted to do, I don't know what I'd have done without it," he says.

To someone like me, who has never stood on a stage with just a microphone, trying to make people laugh, it seems like just about the most terrifying thing you can do.

"It was nerve-wracking at first, it would've been a bit weird if it wasn't, but I guess I reached a stage where I wasn't so nervous about going on stage," says Jonny. "That's not good though, you need nerves. It depends on the gig really.

"I gig a lot up north and the audiences are great. It was exciting doing the show at Edinburgh last year because it was an hour long - usually I just do 20-minute club sets."

How does the writing process work? Does he, as some comics do, treat writing comedy like a nine to five job?

"I used to just sit around waiting for an idea to pop into my head, then I realised that probably wasn't efficient enough," laughs Jonny. "Now I'm more disciplined. You have to bore yourself - switch off the phone and everything else and just write."

His comic heroes include Bill Bailey and Dylan Moran. "I like slightly surreal, offbeat comedy," says Jonny. "I come across great comedians a lot on the circuit. There's a whole strata of professional comics making a good living doing the clubs every weekend.

"It's a pretty supportive environment. One of the best things about Edinburgh is you get to spend the summer with your mates. That can't be bad."