COMPLACENCY is a word which you suspect doesn’t figure in Jimmy Cricket’s vocabulary.

The veteran comedian could be forgiven for taking things easy after a lifetime making people laugh.

But at 72, his diary is as busy as ever and, as he prepares to come to Oswaldtwistle Civic Arts Centre on Saturday. the genial Irishman revealed it’s the gift of laughter which keeps him going.

“I do believe I have been given a gift in a way,” he said. “That’s what motivates me and keeps the enthusiasm going. When you strike up a rapport with an audience and it feels as though you are all in the room together, there is no feeling like it.”

Jimmy will be bringing his Great Value for a Tenner show back to Oswaldtwistle which, as the name implies, has a fixed ticket price.

“This will be our third time at Oswaldtwistle and it will be a lovely intimate show,” he said. “My wife will be coming along with me and she’ll be getting involved singing a few songs.”

Small venues such as Oswaldtwistle are close to Jimmy’s heart.

“The number of theatres around the country is decreasing,” he said, “and it’s so important to try and keep as many of them going as possible. When you go round the country, you see that the ones doing well are those with a very buoyant volunteer system and if I can help is some way by attracting an audience, then that is great.”

With his trademark stage outfit of battered hat, jacket and wellies with left and right labels on them, Jimmy may play the clown at times on stage, but people underestimate the cleverly written gags and his famous letters from his mammy.

“I do love writing,” he said. “The jokes have to come from somewhere and I like the whole process.”

Jimmy has already written a couple of musicals and he revealed he’s now working on a comedy play.

“I’ve got the idea for a comedy double act coming to the end of a summer season and the end of their partnership and I’m currently doing re-writes so it would be nice to get that staged.”

Jimmy Cricket, Oswaldtwistle Civic Arts Centre, Saturday, January 27. Details from 01254 398319 or www.civicartscentre.co.uk