You used to be a teacher. So when did you realise you were funny?
I still don't realise that I'm funny, and am still wondering why people think I am. I hated teaching and if I hadn't left they would have asked me to leave. So I got into comedy.

You once worked in a tough inner city London school. What's more scary, getting up on stage or in the classroom?
The classroom. The boys were awful, they used to say, "Miss! You are so shit, you are so boring, get out!" I used to lock the classroom door and then they would just climb out of the windows. I used to make jokes to try and keep them under control and they were like, "Miss, why are you telling jokes, you are so not funny."

Having also been a nice respectable biochemist, were your parents disappointed by your career change?
After they resigned themselves to the fact that I wasn't going to be another Asian doctor, they were proud that I was a teacher at least. They didn't actually know I was doing comedy until they saw me on Have I Got News For You. Seriously, they thought it was a game show and that I was just an ordinary member of the public who had won a place on the panel! They then thought the comedy thing was a phase, and that I'd be back as a teacher again and everything would be nice and normal.

You're a columnist on top of your telly and radio work. Which do you prefer?
I won Columnist of the Year a couple of weeks ago for my column in the New Statesman, so that's nice. It's every other week and I thought it would be easy. But, writing it, I began to realise I have no life, I just stay at home and clean. People reading it think my life is glamorous, but it really isn't. I have to make stuff up.

Do you think female comedians have it tough on the stand up circuit?
Out of about 20 women I started out with, only three or four of us are still going. A lot of them can't hack the road, which is understandable because it's driving up and down motorways with five other comedians that you just can't stand, but you can't say that you can't stand them until you get home. It's like – how can they not tell they aren't funny?

You let your body hair grow for a show on BBC3... pleasant experience?
I grew it for seven months and I did get to the stage where I didn't care. People would point it out in the street. I'm doing another show for BBC3, Miss Real World, which looks at people's perception of beauty. I went to Liverpool and they made me a WAG for the day. Then I actually went to fashion week and sat near real life WAG Alex Curran. She didn't know what the film was about though. I had an orange tan, yellow frilly dress and was so uncomfortable. Being a WAG is worse than being hairy.

You've performed in many different countries. Where are the best and worst audiences?
I did a gig in Kosovo and they had no electricity. People were holding up lighters to see me. They still laughed but I'm not sure if it was at me or the situation. Sweden has the best audiences – I learnt Eddie Izzard goes there to try out his material and I can see why. Great sense of humour and they don't heckle.

What are your plans this year?
I'm doing Glastonbury again on Sunday 29th in the Weapons of Mass Destruction tent. Last year I went and loved it, I saw Shirley Bassey gyrating and she's in her 70s. I just hope I'm like that at that age. Oh yeah, and I'm doing Bestival in July too.

For more about Shazia visit www.shaziamirza.org