Heres how it went…

I caught a really good Ed Byrne gig the other week.

A Tuesday night in a place you have to drive to.

Not a very giving crowd.

People arrive knowing who you are.

But yeah, you still get Tuesday nights.

Which is difficult to fire up.

I quite like the conflict part, though.

And then it’s possible for you to turn that around.

I had a kind of weird one in the Isle Of Man.

On the Friday night, they couldnt have been more fantastic.

They loved everything I did, they were thrilled.

But on the Thursday night?

I was a performer, a funny person off the telly, so theyve come to see the show.

The stuff wasnt really working.

It was a muted response, until I started talking about them.

And they loved that!

And they also loved that!

Which was attack, essentially!

Everything has a mini-railway.

Literally seven of the top 13 things to do on the Isle Of Man on Trip Advisor are mini-railways!

Presumably, for you, thats a lot more fun?

Im 134 dates in!

Does it still feel as instinctive as you come on the stage?

Or do you see the finish line?

Im going to miss it now.

Now Im kind of demob happy, like the last of the days in Edinburgh.

Im at the point where you say I wont get to say this.

There is a touch of it being the last week, and its almost the end of something.

Whereas if youd asked me this question two weeks ago?

Id have gone yeah, yeah…!

You said last time around that the DVDs are like your albums.

Have you done that again?

Ive actually gone down a generation.

Is that because of Lee Mack forgetting to watch the show in advance last time?!

[Laughs] There was a definite element of Lee, youve not watched this?

Josh watched it in the car back from a gig himself.

Getting someone whos been around a little bit more?

The magic may have gone!

I got a fresh face!

Was this tour particular special in that youve broken the bi-annual cycle you were on?

Presumably family reasons and lots of other work commitments led to this being three years since your previous tour.

Did you find yourself particularly raring to go?

There was a couple of things.

Firstly, they now take so long to tour.

This one alone started in October last year, and finishes in November this year.

And Ill still do ones in Scandinavia, across Europe next year.

So the shows keep going for about two years now, at which point youre not doing anything else.

You hadnt lived in any way.

You had nothing to talk about.

So it needed me to have a bit of a gap.

The same tour we did before, we started with a three month block before Christmas.

It makes it less punishing.

Is that the cycle you see yourself easing towards now?

That itll be three years before youre back out on the road?

Next summer Ill do Europe with it.

But itll be the year after next before I hit Dublin again and start again.

Then theres the thing of how much longer will people come out and see it?

Were never sure, because whos done this?

Sean Lock, Bill Bailey… a few people getting to their 40s.

You described it in the past as the Bob Monkhouse phase.

You become the beloved elder statesman.

Are you looking forward to being a beloved elder statesman?

Im not looking forward to the 10 years of obscurity that comes before that!

Youd get to host a quiz show or two at least…. Jimmy Carrs doing a greatest hits tour next year!

Ah, I used to love the naming conventions of his DVDs!

You did a book,Tickling The English, that I enjoyed a lot.

Are you tempted to go back and try something like that again?

I wouldnt mind that.

I need to find an idea as interesting for me to write about as I did with England.

I dont want to write a memoir, or an autobiography.

For the last while, its been more worthwhile me putting my energy into writing stand-up shows than books.

Its a three month block of writing time that I could have written jokes in as well.

TheBradford Argus & Telegraph.

Was it a good review?

A very good review!

She did say shed been to see the gig at the start of the tour as well!

But it did have all the stuff that happened that night too.

This collection of people having a natter.

But its not so small anymore!

Not as loud as it was a couple of years ago.

The two million thing is a bloated figure.

They dont pare it down for bots.

I think 53% of them arent even accounts any more.

Its nowhere near two million!

I was on your IMDB page earlier.

Youve got lots of credits now, so its come up with what it thinks are peoples standard traits.

For Jason Statham, for instance, its deadpan, sarcastic delivery, and stubble.

Bruce Willis: often plays men who get caught up in situations far beyond their control.

Tom Cruise is beaming smile and intense eye contact.

Are you ready for yours?

You say eh at the end of jokes.

[Laughs] Thats it?

Youve got this huge list of credits, and theyve distilled you down to that.

If I ever do write my autobiography, the title will be To Eh Is Human.

Ill ride off the back of your fame and do one of those knock-off cheap biographies.

Thats fine, just do that!

[Laughs]

Dara O Briain, thank you very much.

Crowd Tickler Liveis available as a digital download and on DVD.