OVER the last decade, the comedian Andy Parsons has built up a huge following as one of the regulars on BBC2’s award-winning topical news quiz, Mock the Week. He has quite rightly been praised for his brilliant contributions to the show.

But now, Andy is returning to his first love: stand-up comedy. He is embarking on a massive nationwide tour of his new show, Live and Unleashed – But Naturally Cautious.

He couldn’t be more excited about coming back to live comedy, he tells Your Entertainment ahead of a Nuffield date on Sunday.

“I love the buzz of live comedy,” enthuses the comic, who will be recording a new DVD during this tour for release later this year. “You don’t have a TV producer or editor. Any given night will never be repeated. The audience will get something unrepeatable. What happens in that theatre stays in that theatre.”

Andy, who was lead writer on ITV’s enormously influential satirical comedy series, Spitting Image, goes on to give an example. “A couple of years ago a bloke wanted to propose to his girlfriend on stage. Now that moment is an extra on one of my DVDs.

"That’s an extreme example, but there are always times like that when ceilings collapse or the technology fails or there’s a fire alarm in the middle of the show. People like the sense that on that night they are seeing something which will never happen again.”

The comedian,who has four popular tours and three best-selling DVDs to his name, is also notable for the wonderful connection he has with his audience.

“I love that rapport,” says Andy. "I used to do a double act. It was lovely to have that support on stage. But if you create a rapport with the audience when you're an individual stand-up, you can enjoy a double act with them instead. You thrive off that.”

He adds that, “Physically getting to places on the tour can be difficult. You can have enough of scotch eggs and buffet bars and motorway service stations.

"But when you finally get there, it’s great. It’s fantastic that people have come out specifically to see you. You feed off their energy, and they feed off yours. There’s a symbiosis there. When you leave the stage after two hours, it’s great to have that real crowd feeling, as opposed to the disparate groups that you had at the start of the evening.”

Andy proceeds to reveal what subjects he will be covering in “Live and Unleashed – But Naturally Cautious”. “The show starts off with me deconstructing myself. Over the course of the first half, I look at all the things I could possibly be good at and systematically rule them all out. The last thing I think I’m good at is driving, but I read recently that 90 percent of us think we're in the top 10 cent of drivers, so I’m probably rubbish at that as well!

“The second half is about trying to build myself back up through communal spirit, so that we end on a high. We may be disappointing individually – but if we all band together and pool our sewage, we can at least power a bus!”

Andy, a wonderfully astute observer of current affairs, will also be addressing the current political situation in his new show. “I’ll be asking if there is any point in voting. Why should young people bother to vote? The answer is that OAPs only get free prescriptions, bus passes and pensions because they bother to vote. Imagine what the young could get if they bothered to vote – perhaps free X Boxes and loom bands!”

The 48-year-old, who has also appeared on Live at the Apollo and QI among many TV performances, closes by considering the immense popularity of Mock the Week. “It’s popular because it has the advantage of being topical – there is always another week to be mocked. The best panel shows are sitcoms. People get to know the characters and are as interested in you mocking each other as the news.”

The other bonus is that Mock the Week has had a terrifically positive impact on Andy’s stand-up profile. “I can now do a 100-date national tour and on three consecutive nights play Newport Pagnell, Uttoxeter and Wigan,” he concludes with a laugh.

“Who could ask for any more?!”

Tickets: 023 8067 1771 or visit nuffieldtheatre.co.uk