PATRICK Monahan is as likeable as comedians come. He is friendly, chatty, charming and of course, funny and you can see how he has done so well since winning the ITV programme, Show Me The Funny. He spoke to Rebecca Cain after his appearance on BBC's Let's Dance for Sport Relief.

Wearing a red wig, a sparkly silver crop top and a colourful fluffy skirt, complete with buider's boots, Patrick strutted his stuff on TV to Rihanna's Only Girl In The World.

But the Teeside comedian only found out the routine on the Monday before the Saturday performance.

He said: "It was surreal. It was so much fun. I was all over the shop. The dancers are so good. It was so crazy and bonkers. It was a bit like an outer body experience."

He took part in the BBC's Let's Dance to raise money for Sports Relief. He didn't get through his round being pipped to the post by Fatima Whitbread and the Cuban Brothers and Rowland Rivron, who went on to win the whole competition.

Patrick said it wasn't until two weeks before the show that he was told he would be dancing to Rihanna. And then he didn't find out the routine until the Monday.

He said: "Rowan was amazing on the show. Come December he had decided what he wanted to do. Some people were so polished."

And what did he think about the outfit? "I didn't mind at all. it was charity and for a laugh. If you are going to do something like this you have just got to do it. I looked like a drag Queen."

Patrick's star has risen rapidly over the past 12 months after he triumphed in the ITV stand-up comedy contest, Show Me The Funny, last August.

He is currently touring and is coming to Maidenhead and Aylesbury within the next month.

He said: "It is brilliant. It has been such a great last 12 months building up- doing the show last year and doing this now [Let's Dance]. Every month I am doing something bonkers.

"And I have got lots coming up."

But he said he did not know what to expect from the show.

Patrick said: "I think a few people on the show came across realy well. Hopefully it has done something for every one. We got a new audience and people who would have never seen our stuff at all."

And it was Patrick who seemed most at ease in front of the cameras and in front of the audiences on the show.

He said: "I think the best thing to do, and most people will tell you this, is to forget the cameras are there. We have got to do what we do.

"I treated it like a gig for however long I was going to be in it for."

And how has he reacted to his new found fame and being recognised in the street. The 35-year-old said: "Before that I was bonkers anyway and I would chat to people. I would be on the bus or train and having a chat.

"I would be on a train and just having a chat and I wouldn't tell people what I did as then they would be on edge and laughing at everything. I would just say I am an electrician or something.

"Now people come up to me and have a chat and a picture taken."

He started on the comedy circuit in 2001 and was a comedy festival regular. So how does he feel now having his own tour?

He said: "The audience are really nice. That is the thing- they know your sort of style and they have come to see you."

Patrick Monahan's new show, Hug Me I Feel Good, is at The Norden Farm, Maidenhead on April 12 at 8pm. Tickets are £12 from 01628788997 or at www.nordenfarm.org. He is at Aylesbury's Limelight Theatre on April 27 at 8pm. Tickets are £15. Call 01296431272 or go to www.qpc.org.