AL Murray's brand of common sense has sometimes been labelled xenophobic by those who didn't get the joke.

For Al's tirades against the French, in particular Marcel, the Parisian bar owner for whom his wife left him, all take the form of rants from his on-stage alter ego The Pub Landlord.

"The Landlord has a shattered personal life and doesn't really know how to express himself," said Al, explaining his comedic persona.

"The idea behind the act is based on an old friend of mine. The rest is pure fiction. I try to be as stupid and inane as possible about serious subjects, like a bloke in a pub.

"In this year's show the Landlord's got a thing about world beliefs, which is quite a grown-up issue, but he comes out with complete nonsense."

Al's on-stage career dates back 10 years, his pub landlord having started as a character on the Harry Hill show before developing into an act in its own right.

According to Al, all comedians adopt a persona when they stride out on stage and The Pub Landlord is just an extension of that.

"Normally stand-up is quite contrived anyway," he explained.

"People get on stage and talk about their mother-in-laws and it's not a real situation.

"I thought, why not go the whole way and pretend to be someone else altogether?

"With a character like The Pub Landlord, you have the freedom to talk to people in a certain way.

"To me it makes more sense."

Indeed, one of the joys of Al's shows is his interaction with members of the audience, as he chats to them about their lives and careers and weaves them into his performance.

"I have had one woman tell me she'd never heard anything so xenophobic," he admitted.

"But generally it works really well and these days people are more likely to realise it's a joke.

"It's nice that, the more familiar people have become with the character, the fewer hurdles you have to overcome.

"You can just go on stage and launch straight into it."

So far Al's act has seen huge success at the Edinburgh Festival and on the West End.

He has collected the Perrier Award and double Olivier Award nominations.

But does he intend to stick with one character or will he develop another persona?

"People have asked me, 'When are you going to think of something else?'" he revealed.

"But for me, The Pub Landlord works really well and there's still lots of areas I can go with it.

"Besides, as soon as I start doing something else, everyone will start asking, 'When are you going to go back to being The Pub Landlord again?'"

Catch Al Murray's Double Barrel tour at King George's Hall, Blackburn on Sunday, October 12 (call 01254 582582 for tickets) and the Albert Halls, Bolton on Tuesday, November 4 and Wednesday, November 5 (call 01204 334400 for tickets).