From Celebrity Big Brother to stand-up comedy - variety is the spice of life for Bobby Davro

Incredibly his 'Taking the Mimic' show will be his first stand-up tour in six years and he told the Daily Echo he cannot wait!

"I'm really looking forward to the tour. I thought I'd better do it as people haven't been able to to see me for a while.

I do stand up shows all the time but I've not done a tour like this for six years and I thought people are not getting to see me."

We have, of course, seen plenty of Bobby in reality shows recently, including Celebrity Big Brother ( CBB) and Celebrity Come Dine with Me. And Bobby is quick to tell me, "I really enjoyed Celebrity Big Brother."

But stand-up comedy is his first love and in a surprising swipe at the multitude of reality shows on TV he added:

"There was a time entertainment shows were on TV and the public were all watching; now us entertainers are the ones watching ordinary people on TV - it's the other way round,which is a little bit sad because I'm still doing it!"

He has been watching the latest CBB too and was rooting for one person to win:

"I love Darren Day. He's keeping calm whilst everyone else is losing their heads. I hope he will win."

Of his time last August, when he took part in an America versus UK version of Celebrity Big Brother, he said:

"It's a funny thing to be with complete strangers like that for four weeks but no one could really upset me. I'm 57 and If you have teenage daughters you know how desperate it can be. I'm use to teenagers - it's like water off a duck's back.

I've no regrets about doing it myself. It paid enough money for me to do a drama - a stage play last year and it gave me a year off from doing panto.It got me through the year."

CBB showed Bobby to be both hilarious and extremely tolerant though willing to speak his mind and he eventually made the final and came fourth!

Bobby even did Dancing on Ice in 2010, making a quick exit on week two much to many people's disappointment. But he wasn't sorry:

Of the ice show he said: "It's a ridiculous thing to imagine you are going to be able to dance on ice at 50: it's dangerous and it's painful. You have to be careful. I wasn't too sorry to go out of the show early. Doctor Hilary Jones was on the same series and he had to continue . He was no good and didn't improve and I was just glad I wasn't him. I still got paid the same , regardless of when I went out of the competition."

In the golden days of TV variety shows, Bobby Davro was rarely off our screens. He was an ITV staple through the 80's and 90's.

During the mid 80s he had his own Saturday night ITV shows; Bobby Davro on the Box, Bobby Davro's TV Annual and Bobby Davro's TV Weekly. He also made appearances on the popular comedy impressions sketch show Copy Cats.

The 90s saw him switching channels to the BBC, appearing on television shows such as Public Enemy Number One and the talent show The Heat Is On. Bobby made another attempt at the comedy sketch show format which proved successful for him in the 80s, on the short lived show Rock with Laughter. He also made appearances on Run the Risk, which featured on Saturday mornings kids' show Live & Kicking. He returned to UK TV screens in 1997, as host of Yorkshire Television's Winner Takes All for 65 episodes.

So, has he any more TV lined up?

"I've some little projects but nothing too very exciting. There's not much to do unless you are lucky. There might be a chance of another 'Your Face Looks Familiar'."

Bobby may have been around for a long time but he is certain his comedy never dates. He adds:

"Maybe my style is different to modern day comics. I'm more of a gag man who tells jokes like Tim Vine, Stuart Frances and Milton Jones. I do impressions that are music based and there's lots of audience participation: god help you if you're sat in the front rows as I get people to dance etc. I really enjoy that! "

He warns the show is adults-only despite his wide family appeal.

"It's quiet riske . I'm not known for being an adult comedian: you can do family stuff too but I prefer being adult and saying and doing what I want, but I'm not filthy. There are a few expletives like with most comics."

TV viewers will recall Bobby was a regular in EastEnders between 2007 and 2008 when he played Vinnie Monks in the BBC One soap and chatting to me I recalled his fine comedy acting skills when he was at Bournemouth Pier Theatre in the farce Run for Your Wife with Fraser Hines.

" I like to change things around a bit," says Bobby.

Would he return to EastEnders?

"Who knows - They didn't kill me off!"

This year he is also doing an Easter panto- The Wizard of Oz which come to The Anvil in Basingstoke on Friday April 1.

He is looking forward to doing it, as well as the stand- up show in Eastleigh:

" I do get a little bit bored if I do the same thing over and over again . The time I spent with EastEnders was good but it was enough. I'd like to go back but I didn't like the character. He was a bit of a loser. But doing that programme taught me a lot - you never stop learning, as long as you are prepared to learn. It was a learning curve which I thoroughly enjoyed and I'd go back but my character didn't have enough meat. I would like to go back and do another TV play or a soap."

So what is his favourite medium to work in?

" I like it all. I go through stages of wanting to do impressions, them standup , then singing."

Had he an ambition from an early age?

" My ambition use to be to get my own series and when I got that where else is there to go? I will never stop working; I love work. I'm still as keen and as ambitious as ever. I've been very, very lucky . It's having the ability to see it as luck and see the glass if half full and not half empty. There was a time the glass seemed half empty - when my TV career was pushed aside and I thought what now but I've maintained my creative side. I'm still very lucky. It's a tough old business but you keep going and it's good fun."

Bobby Davro's Taking the Mimic is at Eastleigh Concorde Club on Friday June 17. Tickets: 02380 613989 www.theconcordeclub.com