Tell me about Puppet Master’s host, your new puppet, Alasdair Rimmer?

He’s a slightly washed-up game show host from the world of variety entertainment. He’ll do absolutely anything to get back on television and muscles his way into the show without me really wanting him there. He’s just so desperate to get a job and be involved.

He’s loosely based on the X-Factor voiceover guy Peter Dickson and Patrick Allen, who was the voice of E4 – it’s an affectionate homage to them and their incredible voices. I’m obsessed with voices and he lets me indulge myself.

n How do you go about creating a new character?

With an idea in my head and a voice.

Initially, I didn’t know what he looked like.

So I spoke to my puppet maker. Some people have drug dealers, I’ve got a puppet maker. He had a head left over from an Ant and Dec puppet used on an ITV show, which was brilliant – it’s massive! We stuck some eyes on, a nose and just played around with it until he looked cheesy enough. It was great fun because I haven’t done a new character for ages. I found it strangely therapeutic, bringing him to life.

n As a ventriloquist, can you get away with jokes that other comedians can’t?

Yes, and the joke is often at my expense.

I can get away with a having a go at the audience much more too, you get to be cheekier. Mocking the front row is a trademark of my characters but I’m evolving my audience interaction beyond that. I’ve got this new section called ‘Ask Albert’ where people email in questions to my website and he’ll impart his wisdom. It really opens up the show and makes it more unpredictable.

n After the sell-out success and critical acclaim for Sponge Fest, do you feel pressure to deliver something bigger and better?

Sponge Fest finished with all the puppets coming alive independently of me, allsinging and all-dancing. And I thought, “how am I going to top that?”

My audience knows they’re independent; it can’t be a surprise anymore. Early on in this show, for example, Albert arrives on his mobility scooter and starts doing a big rap, inspired by the Andrews Sisters. The audience won’t question it. So now I’m treating the show more like a live sitcom for the characters. I’m actually developing a sitcom with a production company. But I’m really keen to develop the idea live too because it works really well.

n Will you always be a ventriloquist?

I never wanted to be a straight stand-up.

As a kid, I watched Paul Daniels and David Copperfield, all those magic shows on television. And that’s all I ever wanted, to have a reason to be on stage, to be on television. My reason was to do magic or to do puppets. I never wanted to simply stand there and just do jokes or moan about things because I don’t have anything to moan about, I’ve had a really nice life. I want to get the sitcom off the ground, get more television exposure and then see where it takes me.

n You’ve starred in various TV prank shows over the years. How tempting is it to use your voice throwing skills to fool people in real life?

Very. I was at Heathrow last year, on the travelator, with the female voice that tells you to “mind the step”. And someone in front of me didn’t and went flying forward, so I just added “enjoy your trip”

on the end. They looked around but I was whistling, minding my own business. I couldn’t help myself. Generally though, I try to keep it just for the job. I don’t talk to the puppets offstage either.

n Tell us about your appearance in pantomime in Southampton this year?

I’m at The Mayflower with my friend Nigel Havers, Lee Mead and Julian Clary in a production of Jack and the Beanstalk.

Nigel is the baddie, Julian is the Fairy of the Forest, Lee’s playing Jack and I’m his mate, Simple Simon, the village idiot. This is my eighteenth panto and I still absolutely love it. As the comedian, you’re the lynchpin, the link with the audience. So I get to write two of my characters in, Sam and the baby, with a little bit of singing and dancing about.

Panto is its own special, magical medium and a lovely way to end the year, socialising with the rest of the cast after a year spent travelling round the country and the world, just talking to myself.

Paul is at The Berry Theatre, Hedge End on Thursday with Puppet Master, followed by a stop at Ferneham Hall, Fareham on Friday October 26.