Acclaimed comedy legend Ross Noble has returned to his first love - live comedy.

The supreme master of stream-of-conscious freewheeling stand-up kicks off the British Isles leg of his 21st tour - Jibber Jabber Jamboree - at the Gaiety Theatre on Monday (October 23).

‘It will be a playful experience for young and old,’ said Ross.

‘Imagine watching someone create a magic carpet on an enchanted loom.

‘Oh, hang on… magic carpets fly, that would smash the loom as it took flight. I haven’t thought that through…

‘That’s what people can expect. Razor sharp observations on things I haven’t thought through.’

Jibber Jabber is one of the famous sayings of Mr T from hit 1980s TV show The A-Team.

Asked if his show is a tribute to Mr T, Ross said: ‘It can be. That would be great, wouldn’t it?

‘Imagine if it was just a very in depth, one-man show about the life of Mr T. That would be brilliant: a real black box type theatre show, just with a single spotlight.’

Ross says the main difference between the Ross of his first tour and now is that ‘he’s got significantly better hotel accommodation’.

‘Also, there are people coming to see me now who came with their parents when they were kids,’ he says.

‘That messes with your head a little bit. I still think of myself as being like 22 or 23 years old, and now I’ve got grown men going: “I saw you when I was 15. And now I’m a professional comedian.”

But he wouldn’t describe himself as an elder statesman of comedy.

‘The people that get described as elder statesman …some of them are a little bit too confident in their opinions, you know?

‘They start going: “Well, the thing about comedy…” ‘No. Shut up!’

Ross is known for his lengthy shows but he’s happy with his demanding sets.

‘The thing that gets me is comics who sit down. Whenever I see a comic with a chair on stage, I just think: “If you need that chair, do a shorter show. Get up and put some effort in!”’

Ross’s love of crowd interaction and flights of fancy can make each show quite different.

He gets fans who try to see every show to get the full experience.

‘I did the shows in Sydney recently and there was this couple that came three nights running and sat in the same seats,’ he says.

‘I did a different show every night, I’ve done six hours, and I haven’t repeated any of the ideas and then afterwards, they went: “Oh, you never did that bit again that we really liked.” You can’t win.’

Ross’s on-stage persona is close to his real life self: ‘The difference between me onstage and me offstage is that when I’m on stage I show my working out.

‘As I’m talking, my brain is constantly interrupting itself, so I’ll be saying something and then that’ll spark another thing, and then something else will come in - and I explain all that as it happens.

‘I’ll often get halfway through a sentence and just stop - it drives my wife up the wall.’

He adds: ‘I really like being able to let the audience into the way my mind works. That’s also one of the things that was great about having kids.

‘The way they think is the way my head is most of the time. It was perfect. Well, I mean, terrible for actually looking after them… but you know, they’re having a fun time.’

It’s a tradition that fans leave items on stage during the interval for him to use in the second half.

‘Somebody left a pin from a ten-pin bowling alley and then a few nights later, somebody left another one.

‘So I tweeted about it, and over the course of the tour, I got all 10 and we set up a bowling alley in the dressing room.’

The show starts at 7.30pm. Tickets are available from the booking office on 600555 or online at www.villagaiety.com