Rhys James has been in comedy for seven years and now he wants respect.

As a white middle class man who "has had everything handed to him on a plate", the 24-year-old comic is quick to point out that he is joking.

However, it's a theme he will explore in his new show, Remains, when it opens at the Edinburgh Fringe on August 5.

He said: "Wanting respect is completely ironic because who would respect a 24-year-old guy who's never worked a day in his life and just tells jokes? I mean I couldn't deserve respect less. I just thought the idea of this kid who's had everything handed to him saying that's not enough, I also want respect, would be really funny."

The 24-year-old comic, who cites his influences as Louie CK, Jimmy Carr and Lee Mack, began performing at the age of 17 and made his solo Fringe debut last year.

He said: "It wasn't on purpose but last year did end up being a bit of an introduction. There's less pressure on a second year. The first year you're under a lot more scrutiny because more people will come and look at it to see if you're going to be the next big thing, whereas the second year you've established the people who are going to come back. I don't need to tell people about who I am on the surface any more, I can talk about stuff that I find funnier that's slightly more personal."

This year James promises more of a sketchbook type show, featuring spoken word poetry and an in-depth look at the world of Twitter.

He said: "There will be two poems, two videos and upwards of one joke. There's some quite modern comedy about Twitter in there as well. I'm obsessed with people's last words so I have devised what people's last tweets would be.

"What I've realised is that the only way to get respect if you're a 24-year-old comedian is to either be dead or be so funny that everyone agrees that you're a genius. My aim for the show is to be dead by the end of it, that's why I've scheduled at the 60 minute mark of the show for my final tweet to come on screen so you'll see my final words in tweet form.

"If you haven't seen Twitter then that might be quite a long five minutes for you but if you have then you'll love it."

James, who studied politics at Manchester University, performed his first run of stand-up shows at The Glasgow Stand, a venue close to his heart, the weekend before his final exam.

He said: "The Glasgow Stand is one of the best places to do comedy, I love it so much.

"I did the Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and on Monday I had my last exam of my final year of university. I was at the Glasgow Stand doing gigs and getting really drunk afterwards every night and then getting up and revising in the day before the gig. I came back on the Monday morning and went straight from the train station to my exam and then went home and slept for 40 hours. It was ridiculous but I passed the exam and got booked back in The Stand."

However, despite studying politics, he is keen to avoid following the same route as one of his comic heroes, Russell Brand.

He added: "I used to love Russell Brand when he was doing stand-up but now he's a political voice instead of a comedian which is a strange thing to come to terms with.

"I hope I don't go in the same direction as him. As I get older I start to feel more passionately about things like social issues but I just can't be that sincere for that long, I will make some stupid joke, ruin everything and no-one will take me seriously, which they shouldn't.

"It's impossible to say but I really hope it doesn't come to that. However, I don't want this to come back and haunt me when I'm eventually doing my own version of The Trews on YouTube and someone says 'you said in an interview 10 years ago that you'd never do anything political' so I will say no comment."

Rhys James will perform Remains at Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh between August 5-30.