IT is mid-afternoon and funny man Gary Delaney tells me he is sat at home, sporting his best pyjamas and conducting what he describes as an ‘administration day’ ahead of performing somewhere in the north of England.

“I have to do this once a month – pay bills, talk for half an hour to an automated message machine, reply to hundreds of emails and order a new pair of slippers on line,” said Delaney.

“Just normal stuff, but it is terrific material.”

Stand-up, one-liner specialist and Mock The Week regular, comedy is gag master Gary Delaney’s business.

He writes jokes for the stage, television and radio and is a hugely popular comic in his own right since taking the Edinburgh Festival by storm.

“Do you want to hear a joke?” Delaney asks politely.

“I don’t fancy tobogganing much today but I would do it if pushed,’ he giggles.

And they just keep coming.

‘Sad news – apparently the Michelin man has retyred.’ Delaney, the husband of fellow comic Sarah Millican, said: “I don’t think there’s any great secrets – comedy is just supposed to be funny and one-liners are so lean.

“I think there are a lot of people who, like me, just like their comedy with lots of jokes in and aren’t particularly concerned about all the high-brow arty stuff that sometimes come with it.

“When I see a stand-up I don’t care how sensitive they are or what their opinions are.

“I only care about how funny they are. If it isn’t funny don’t say it.”

Delaney was once described by a fellow comic as ‘the man Jimmy Carr tries to be.’ “As a comic, you shouldn’t be afraid of controversy,” he says.

“I think it is broadly okay – it is just verbal tricks.

“When you wind back the clock, and you listen to the old comedians, there’s a lot of hostility to certain races, and thankfully times have changed from that era.

“A comic’s view on politics, though, is just as important as a butcher’s view on astronomy.

“Comedy is just supposed to be funny. That’s it.”

Delaney has occasionally fallen foul of offending somebody or a certain group, but most comics have.

He adds: “It doesn’t really bother me and there are only two types of people that get offended: idiots and authoritarians.

“I’ve little time for either. You either like something or you don’t.

“To call that ‘offence’ to try and make it somehow important is just nonsense.

“It’s basically just people trying to impose their own values on others, which I find rather unpleasant.”

Delaney says he enjoys the dangerous edge of comedy, naming Steven Wright and Emo Philips as major influences.

“Max Miller was a dangerous comic and so was Dave Allen.

“They were both known for their risqué jokes and they challenged authority.

“I didn’t set out to be a one-liner comic.

“The most delicate thing to do is write self-deprecating stuff for other people about their appearance.

“It’s a minefield and very easy to misjudge.

“There are long and growing lists in television of things you can’t really joke about.

“It’s sad really.

“Most of the best jokes never make it out of the writing room.”

n Gary Delaney will be on the bill at the Darwen Library Theatre comedy club next Saturday, details 01254 706006, bringing his full show to the Thwaites Empire Theatre, Blackburn, Thursday, May 28, 01254 685500 and Clitheroe Grand Theatre Comedy night, Friday, June 19, 01200 421599.