THEY started out as 11-year-old boys sitting next to each other in school who went on to perform in sold-out arenas in front of thousands of fans.

And now, nearly seven decades on, those wide-eyed youngsters have overcome 18 months of lockdown to reunite once again.

Schoolboys Robert Davis and Beverley Bevan, who occupied adjoining desks at Moseley Grammar for five years, went on to achieve enormous success as BAFTA Award-winning comedian Jasper Carrott and the acclaimed drummer of The Move, Electric Light Orchestra and Black Sabbath.

Daily Echo:

They are now touring the UK with Stand Up & Rock which features the timeless humour of Jasper and the music of The Bev Bevan Band with special guest Andy Bennett, former Ocean Colour Scene guitarist.

Jasper told the Daily Echo: "It's not a unique show but nobody else does it, nobody else mixes comedy and rock and roll as a featured evening.

The origins of the show go back to the early 90s and a previous band that featured Jasper, Bev and Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi.

"We had a group called Belch that was made up of Black Sabbath, ELO and Carrott, hence Belch, and we just did some silly things. From that came the roots of Stand Up & Rock.

Daily Echo:

"For me personally one of the joys is getting back to the basic roots of stand-up comedy, eyeball to eyeball with the audience.

"One of the great joys of doing the 500, 600 seaters is going back in a way to those folk club days. That was one of the reasons why I kept doing it since we started Stand Up & Rock. I rediscovered that sheer joy of creating laughter."

Stand Up & Rock is at Mayflower Theatre on Friday night (October1).

Tickets from mayflower.org.uk or 023 8071 1811.