FOR more than 20 years Ross Noble has been the king of spontaneous stand-up, almost constantly touring, and he’s busier now than ever.

It’s been a hectic few weeks for the Geordie comedy stalwart, having just finished his first gig Down Under - and a date with one of Neighbour's most iconic stars - Harold Bishop.

It's a little different to his usual motorbike tours around the UK.

"Could you pick out the bits that don’t sound like a mad man rambling on at half midnight?" he jokes over the phone.

Over the last two decades, Noble’s largely improvised brand of whimsical storytelling has built up a huge, loyal following who are already snapping up tickets to his UK ‘Brain Dump’ dates in the autumn.

So what is brain dump and where did the title come from.

He says: "I got it from a customer review on Amazon for one of my DVDs.

"They wrote, 'This is just like a massive brain dump,' and I thought: Oh yeah, that's exactly what my stuff is. I'll have that."

In recent years, Ross has moved on from just doing comedy, he's also started to build up a repertoire in acting in films - particularly horror movies.

So how do his comedy skills come in handy?

He added: "It's definitely easier for a stand-up to do straight acting than an actor to do comedy.

"In the horror movie 'Stitches' – it sounds mad because I was playing a killer clown – but I wanted to play it as truthfully as possible.

"I didn't want people to go, "Oh, that's just Noble dressed as a clown.

"I’ve just filmed another horror, and that’s a straight horror film; there are no laughs in it."

He's also starring in Australian comedy series 'It's a Date' where he goes on a date with Harold Bishop.

So what was weirder, playing a murder clown or dating an Australian legend?

"Oh, the date.

"That was my idea, so I only have myself to blame. It was a mate of mine’s show – he asked me to write and be in an episode.

"Afterwards I realised that I could have picked pretty much any Australian actress to date; I could've written myself a love scene.

"But when he asked who I wanted to go on a date with I said, Ian Smith, who plays Harold Bishop.

"We laughed about that for about an hour. But he agreed to it, and then the next thing you know I'm on a set sat opposite him."

Along with a loyal fanbase, Ross has seen his fair share of gifts being left for him, but what happens when those fans get a little too close for comfort?

He said: "99 percent of the time it's very sweet and very flattering. Every now and then you get one where you go, okay… that's a little bit scary.

"But the scariest was when I was in New Zealand once, and I was on the phone to my wife.

"I put the phone down and it rang again. I thought it was her ringing back, so I went, 'Hi' and this voice said, 'Hello'.

"It was a complete stranger who had rung every hotel in Auckland pretending to be my girlfriend.

"That was a bit terrifying. The thing is, someone being a fan is very flattering, but there's a big difference between somebody liking your comedy and someone wanting to wear your skin as a suit."

Ross Noble, Friday, Friday November 11,.

Octagn Theatre, Yeovil.

To book, call 01935 422884