Where Ardal O’Hanlon comes from (small-town Ireland) there is nothing worse than showing off.

Yet he is a professional ‘show-off’ who continues to do stand-up comedy for money, a very shy show-off (and as a result conflicted) but a big show-off nonetheless. So why does he do it?

Just when he thought he’d made sense of the world, when he thought he knew everything he needed to know.

When he finally found a hat that he liked and learned how to make cocktails and how to relax sagaciously in a big chair.

Just when he was about to quit airing his dirty linen in public and stop showing off, the world shifted. Dramatically.

The world fell off its axis. And is adrift in the universe. And needs saving.

In an age of raging populism, #MeToo, identity politics, the end of truth, the collapsing middle ground, peak avocado, £15 gin and tonics, terrified of being on the wrong side of history and desperate to prove that his gender, race, age and class do not necessarily define him, Ardal is forced to saddle his high horse again and ride fearlessly into the culture wars (with a white hankie in his pocket just in case), comedy as ever being the best emergency response mechanism to extreme events there is.

The star of Death in Paradise (BBC One), Father Ted (Channel 4) and My Hero (BBC One), Ardal O’Hanlon is one of the British Isles’ leading stand-up comedians and actors.

He has received a British Comedy Award, BAFTA and Olivier nominations, toured worldwide with his acclaimed stand-up shows and appeared in numerous TV shows from Dr Who (BBC One) and Skins (E4) to Live at the Apollo (BBC Two).

Now, the actor is set to bring his latest tour to High Wycombe in March.

The comic said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be bringing my stand-up show on the road in 2019, having been testing stuff in clubs and at festivals for the past few years. 

“It’s great that the noise in my head is finally cohering into delightful comedy chunks.”

A highly acclaimed stand-up, Ardal has toured to sell out audiences internationally - including extensive live work across the US, Canada, Australia, Far East and Europe - and has released two top ten stand up DVD’s, Ardal O’Hanlon Live and Ardal O’Hanlon Live in Dublin.

Beginning at the Y Theatre, Leicester, on February 24, 2019, and concluding at the Palace Theatre, Southend on December 8, 2019, the tour will take in a total of 47 dates.

And there are high expectations for the quality of the show based on previous feedback. 

The Telegraph said: “It is this calibre of off-beat observation, lateral thought and cheerful fatalism - always served up with the garnish of instinctively craftsmanlike timing and rhythm - that makes O’Hanlon’s set so very entertaining.”

Tickets for ‘The Showing Off Must Go On’ tour are now on sale.

For Wycombe Swan tickets, go to www.wycombeswan.co.uk or call the ticket office on 01494 512 000.

The show is recommended for those aged over 16. Tickets are £25.50.