MANIC Irish comedian Jason Byrne is coming to High Wycombe for the second time, although he didn’t see much of the area on his first visit.

He said: "It was years ago; I was working for a lighting company in Dublin and my boss put me in a truck which went on a ferry. I drove and drove until I got to High Wycombe, where I picked up some lights from a warehouse and then drove back again. So I have been there, but I only really saw the inside of a warehouse."

When asked what his new tour is going to be like, he laughs and said: "I’m so glad that the DVD of my last tour is out soon because then people can watch it and work it out for themselves. I find it hard to describe my own comedy."

He eventually settles on describing his new tour, People’s Pupeteer, as a one-man variety show. He said: "It’s quite manic: I use the audience as part of the set. I weave in and out of them and get them up on stage and do stunts with them. The audience will leave with sore faces from laughing but also sore legs, but I can’t say why, because then you’d have no incentive to go see the show."

Jason is quickly becoming well known on the British comedy circuit, with his off-the-wall humour being showcased on television shows such as Live at the Apollo and Channel 4’s Comedy Gala, but he’s been in the business for almost two decades. He keeps his comedy routines fresh by drawing from his own life: "As you get older, you get different ideas from your personal experience, for instance I now have kids so I can do a bit about having kids and use a personal anecdote.

"I have a very animated brain, so I will think of something really mad and then spend a while working out how to make it into a funny stunt. If you come to the show you’ll get to see me doing a David Copperfield flying illusion." Despite his infectious humour, Jason insists that he wasn’t the class clown and didn’t have his sights set on comedy from an early age.

Jason said: "The class clown was Barry. He used to moonwalk across the desks at school, he was very funny, but he’s a property developer now. Believe it or not, I wanted to be a paediatrician when I grew up, but I never went to college because I just wanted money fast, so just started working and then kind of fell into comedy by accident.

"TV is very disciplined as you have to keep to a tight time frame. I recently finished filming Only Joking, a comedy programme for Sky One with John Bishop, where I had to film 25 minutes worth of family friendly material. It’s quite hard not to curse and swear when you’re used to being able to do it most nights on stage at your own show.

"Improvisation is how I keep excited on stage.

"The show is always changing and always improving, I’ve already changed it since I stated in Edinburgh in August and every show is different because you can pick up on things that have been going on in the local area."

Jason Byrne is at the Wycombe Swan on October 11 at 8pm. Tickets are £18.50 from 01494 512000 or go to www.wycombeswan.co.uk.