A BOLTON comedienne is preparing for her one-woman - and biggest - show at this year's Edinburgh Fringe.

Cassie Atkinson will be heading up to the festival next month for four weeks of performing her show Supernumerary Rainbow.

The Lostock funny woman has been forging a career out of laughter on both the stage and as a writer.

Edinburgh will see the 30-year-old return to trying out her material in front of a live audience after penning pieces for the likes of BBC Radio Four.

She said: "For my one-woman comedy show I perform different characters and do different things. I'm actually quite shy so I like to take on a character and also have an alter ego called Cassie Atkinson.

"I've done Edinburgh before but this will be the longest I've done at 45 minutes. Last year was half an hour so I'm slowly building up, just taking it one step at a time. This time I have the opportunity to perform for a month, you can learn so much by doing that.

"Performing to a live audience you get the reaction to your work right there and then, so you know pretty soon if i's good or not.

"I'm still very much at the beginning and I'm just started to get paid to do things!"

Cassie - who performs used a stage name after deciding her real name of Cassandra sounded a "little bit posh" for a comic - grew up in Bolton watching the likes of Victoria Wood, Julie Walter, and later Peter Kay.

The former Bolton School pupil is dyslexic and felt more compelled towards performing then writing, with dreams of becoming an actress.

She grew up attending the Bolton Octagon Youth Theatre and her first professional job was performing in the Octagon's production of Private Lives.

After joining the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London she got into writing through a BBC outreach programme.

She is now getting ready to graduate from the National Film and Television School and is part of the BBC Writers Room talent pool.

Acting has seen her pop up in E4 comedy Drifters, as well as a more serious roles in dramas like ITV's Vera.

On top of all that she is part of London-based Weirdos Comedy Collective as well as spending time travelling north to perform in Manchester when she has the chance.

Following the festival, Cassie is hoping to take the show on tour around the UK.

"There have been a lot more opportunities for comedy in the North, for example the Manchester comedy festival is a great opportunity for me and others to see and perform the many different styles of comedy which are developing," she added.

"I've recently been having sketches on Radio Four after a producer came to one of my shows at Edinburgh Fringe last year, the opportunities that have come up have been amazing.

"There's so much variety in comedy and voices out there at the moment, especially when when you go around Manchester.

"I'm just trying to make it work, I don't know what's going to happen next week or next month but I want to make the most of it and enjoy it."

Supernumerary Rainbow is free to attend and will be on at the Sabor (Venue 261), in Cowgate, Edinburgh, from August 6 to 27 excluding Wednesdays, at 1.30pm.