Picking the Perfect Playlist isn't easy because so many things can mean so much to us at different times in our lives. Here are six things that have been absolutely massive for me as a teenager getting into comedy and as an adult that (sort of) makes a living from it. 

Limmy’s improv stories

This is someone who could be selling out massive tours every year and be a regular guest on Sunday Brunch if he wanted. Instead, he has given himself a life of live streaming on Twitch almost every weekday. 

He does all sorts of interesting things like Cilla Black watchalongs and plays intriguing games but his improvised stories are, in my opinion, the best thing that anyone does on Twitch. 

They are full of hilarious twists and turns and a true show of some incredible creativity. You can see them for free on YouTube. One of my favourites is: High School Reunion

Tim Key’s Late Night Poetry Programme

I discovered this during the start of the pandemic and did not expect it to become one of my favourite things. I had heard a Tim Key poetry audiobook and assumed this was a similar thing for Radio 4. Instead, these short, dramatic stories driven by Tim Key and Tom Basden are always hilarious, engaging and a great reminder of how brilliant audio comedy can be. These are quite addictive to listen to and we’re very lucky to have quite a lot of 15-minute episodes available.  

Tim Heidecker’s Decker

As a huge fan of things that are unintentionally funny, (such as films by Neil Breen) Tim Heidecker does an amazing job of parodying poorly made films in Decker. Though it has a satirical edge that reminds us of overblown American patriotism etc, Decker is mainly fun to watch because of how stupidly hilarious it is, from the bad acting, terrible special effects and ridiculous storylines. Decker is also part of a larger story world that Heidecker has built which is all very fun to get into.        

The Armando ​Iannucci Shows

Watching this as a teenager was quite important for me as something that Iannucci does so well in these shows is to represent feelings of not fitting in or feeling like the odd one out in amazing ways. 

I had never seen a show with monologues and sketches blending together so seamlessly. Every episode of this show is a classic, with stand-out sketches for me being the football fan conspiracy and the jokes being hidden in a pie.   

Blue Jam 

I was obsessed with Brass Eye and The Day Today as a 16-year-old. I went looking for what other Morris stuff I could find and when I came across these Blue Jam mp3 files, I quickly put them all onto my cheap mp3 player. I would listen to them during ‘private study’, an hour a day I had during sixth form where we were supposed to be doing personal work which I never did. 

I’m pretty sure Blue Jam is what made me want to work in comedy because as well as being very funny and surreal, it had some absolutely heartbreaking moments. I wasn’t aware that comedy could be this special. 

• Bilal Zafar: Rubicon is on at Underbelly Bristo Square at 8.30pm.