Data analyst by day, comedian by night – yes, even during August – Jamie D’Souza is returning to the Fringe this year with his show ‘Brownie’.

Expect revelations about his “outrageously promiscuous live-in landlord”, as well as observations on topics as diverse as honesty, bulimia, Indian food and accidentally giving a dog MDMA. And even a little data analysis.

I was keen to find out more about Jamie’s show, his journey in comedy, and how he balances stand-up with the day job. And also how the flatmate feels about being a key talking point in the show. So I sent some questions in his general direction…

CC: What can we expect from your show ‘Brownie’?
JDS: Lots of jokes, lots of nerdy Powerpoint stuff, one serious bit and a big ending!

I like to think I cover a lot of ground over the course of the hour. My friend’s wedding, my outrageously promiscuous live-in landlord, our dog accidentally taking MDMA and even bulimia, something I have been affected by in the past.

That said, it’s all hopefully funny, and I’ve worked out a way of doing it in an order that doesn’t just sound like the ramblings of a madman.

I also do a lot of data analysis in the show, which may sound dull, but it’s my day job, so combining it with comedy is a massive time save. I’ve done some analysis on my group chat and I’ve written the code so that it can do it for anyone else’s chat too!

So if you’re brave enough to lend me your phone, I can tell you which member contributes the most, both in terms of quality and quantity.

CC: You mentioned that your “outrageously promiscuous live-in landlord” is one of the topics up for discussion – how does he feel about featuring in the show?
JDS: He doesn’t know yet, so if he is reading this, please rest assured I’m talking about a different live-in landlord and please don’t increase my rent.

All jokes aside, he’s great. He’s one of my best friends and I’ve known him a long time. I’m very impressed with how comfortable he is sharing pretty much every intimate detail about his sex life in my show.

I told him I’d be okay with him talking about mine if he did a show, but he said it’d be a very short show. 1-0 to the landowners once again!

CC: It’s your second run of shows at the Edinburgh Fringe – how did it go last time?
JDS: Last time was oh so fun, the show in of itself was really fun to perform, and reviews were thankfully good, but aside from doing the show I made lots of life long friends and can’t remember a better month of my life.

I think I stayed out until 6am pretty much every day that year, which is very unlike me. I’m working 9-5 with my day job this Fringe, so can’t see too many late nights happening again.

Maybe this will be the year I lose those friends I gained in 2022, and next year I’ll have to be the fun 6am person again to offset the loss.

The circle of life continues.

CC: What are you planning to do differently this time?
JDS: I’m planning to get stuck into the graft a bit more. More flyering, more gigs, more Mosque Kitchen dinners.

Part of me is very glad Mosque Kitchen don’t have a loyalty card system, as I think it’d be ruinous to my financial and physical health.

I’ve said this every year to my friends, but I want to run 5k every morning this Fringe. Maybe committing it into writing will give me the boost I need.

Edinburgh is such a beautiful place to go for a run, although best to avoid the Royal Mile, as it’s hard to hit a PB when you’re being stopped by a student improv group every few yards!

CC: How do you fit the comedy around that data analysis day job?
JDS: I’m constantly in a state of exhaustion that leads me to being incredibly stressed out and irritable and doing both things badly.

I’m very lucky that my work are okay with me doing my comedy stuff. I think if they were even 1% of aware of some of the filth I say on stage they might be a bit reluctant, so hopefully my colleagues continue their disinterest in my comedy and never come along to watch.

My work is fortunately very flexible generally. Sometimes I need to clock off a bit early and head off to the middle of nowhere to do a gig in front of six people, and they’re always supportive of that.

It is hard having two jobs. I found the best way to manage this is by completely neglecting close friendships and relationships and putting all my time into my career, leaving me feeling incredibly insular and lonely, but crucially maximising my time to dedicate to data analytics

CC: Does the data analysis provide any material? By which I mean, has anything funny ever happened in the world of data analysis?
JDS: Nothing funny has ever happened in the world of data analysis. Sometimes colleagues ask if I talk about them in my set. I don’t. There is nothing funny about spreadsheets, SQL or PivotTables. Don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise.

That said, as I mentioned, I do a fair amount of data analytics in my show.

I don’t want to give too much away, but a couple I know recently bought some erotic dice and I’ve done a full data analysis on how likely these dice are to lead to a favourable experience, including real life stats, data collection and even a probablistic binomial distribution.

Is that too much for a drunk 10pm Edinburgh Fringe audience? I guess we’ll find out*.

(*Yes, the answer is yes).

CC: Stepping back a bit – when and why did you decide to start doing stand-up?
JDS: I started in my early twenties, a time when I was rocking around completely unaware of the plethora of undiagnosed mental health problems I was facing, trying lots of different things to fill the void.

Since doing comedy, these have been both diagnosed and exacerbated, but in a way that I’m addicted to and really enjoy. I can quit any time, I promise!

My first gig was at a comedy night in Staines called the Cackling Rat. I did a three minute set, and was on with Eric Rushton, Freya McGhee and Dan Tiernan.

We were all just starting out, and it was so good to meet them at my first gig as they are now good friends, and it’s been so great seeing how successful they’ve been, especially relative to our humble beginnings, struggling in front of three pensioners in Staines.

CC: You’ve done quite a few stand-up competitions. Are they a good way to progress a comedy career?
JDS: They are great, I think without them I wouldn’t have been seen by my agent who is the best and has made such a massive difference to my career – and therefore 100% of my self worth.

I’ve also met some of my best friends at those gigs, so even though I’ve never actually won one I still feel like they have been game changers in my career.

A lot of the benefits are not from pure career progression, but also just the sense of validation and confidence it gives you.

There is a night that lots of new acts do in London called Comedy Virgins, and every show they give a tiny plastic trophy to the act that gets the biggest applause in a ‘clap off’ at the end.

The first time I won that I genuinely felt on top of the world and it is undoubtedly the happiest I’ve been in comedy… even though I won just by virtue of having the most friends in the audience!

CC: You’ve supported the likes of Simon Amstell, Colin Hoult, Helen Bauer and Nish Kumar. What’s it like performing for another comedian’s audience? Who has the best audience to perform to?
JDS: They were all a dream, mostly because the four you’ve mentioned there are all so nice and make you feel so at ease doing their gig!

It seems callous to make me pick who has the nicest audience, so I’m going to say it’s a four way tie. Sorry for being so boring and non-gossipy – that’s not really what I’m normally like at all.

All four of them had such great shows, and I felt like I learned a lot from watching them. I’ve not done a tour yet, but seeing how professional they are, how funny they are, and how nice they are to everyone was a real lesson.

I had previously planned to go full Van Halen, no blue skittles on my first tour, but maybe now I’ll be nice to the staff instead. I haven’t fully decided yet, what do you reckon?

CC: What are you planning to do in Edinburgh when you’re not on stage?
JDS: As I said, I’ll be doing my day job, I like working up at the Fringe as it helps put things into perspective a bit.

I’ll go from thinking my show is the most important thing in the world, to having to analyse market trends for a report that no one will ever read. Makes you realise everything is pointless.

I’m also planning to go for lots of nice runs, climb up to Arthur’s Seat, spend lots of time having a laugh with my friends and crying into a pillow.

CC: What have you got planned for after the Festival?
JDS: Sleep for a month, wake up in October and start planning for Fringe 2026.

Jamie D’Souza performed ‘Brownie’ at Monkey Barrel Cabaret Voltaire at Edinburgh Festival 2025.

LINKS: instagram.com/jamieisajoke

Photo: Ian Bowkett