DAVE Spikey, regarded as one of Britain’s funniest ever comedians, will visit Workington next month.

Spikey, who is perhaps best remembered for playing compere Jerry St Clair in ‘Phoenix Nights’ will perform his show, 'A Funny Thing Happened…”' at the Carnegie Theatre on Wednesday, November 3.

Discussing why he chose the name of the show, Dave said: “I always need something to hang a show on and I was thinking back to the days of variety when comedians would always say 'a funny thing happened'.

“Life hasn’t been funny over the last 18 months so I’ve been looking through local newspapers and trying to find things that could go along with the theme, and I’ve been able to build a show around it and it seems to be doing well.”

When asked if he has visited Workington before, Dave replied: “I’ve played in the Carnegie before and it is a great theatre to perform at. It’s a great venue for comedy, the auditorium is such that there is an intimate feel, and audiences are always up for it.

“Before I start cracking on next year, I’m only going to be doing about 20 shows so I thought I’d go to places that I have really enjoyed. I’m also a bit colloquial so I can get home to my bed every night! These are my top picks for places to go and Workington went immediately on the list as I’ve always had a good time there.”

Comedy wasn’t Dave’s main career growing up. He said: “I was a chief biomedical scientist in haematology and I went straight into it from school at 1968. I worked my way through all the disciplines and ended up in haematology which I loved and worked up until 2000.

"My last day in the lab was on Friday, October 13. I turned my microscope off for the last time and within two weeks I’m standing in a car park dressed as a giant berry thinking, 'was this a good career move?'"

“I was into amateur dramatics and one lady said that I should give stand- up a go so I started doing talent shows, one of which was at the old Scarborough Opera House which I had won. It was weird, I would be holding big conferences at St Thomas’ Hospital in London during the day and at night would be performing with the likes of Eddie Izzard and Jack Dee. It all just crept up on me.”

2022 marks the 30th anniversary of the comedian’s first ever tour.

Speaking about what keeps him from doing shows, he said: “It wasn’t something that I imagined I’d end up doing, I like having a laugh and I’m usually one of the first to crack a joke in a group. There are times when I feel like maybe I’ve done enough and could do with a rest but as soon as you step on the stage and get the first couple of big gags in, the laughter just washes over you. It’s a bit of an addiction really.”

Tickets for Dave’s show are still available on the Carnegie Theatre website and cost £18.