HAVE you heard the one about...? Whatever you do, don't tell comic Mark Rough, who is appearing at Blackburn's Lock n' Load comedy night on August 5.

Chances are he's already heard the same gag at least 10 times already today.

"From the moment I go out for my paper in the morning to when I pick up my Chinese at night I hear here's a joke you can use', he said.

"I hear it 30 or 40 times every single day it's the most annoying thing.

"And in nine years I've never been told a joke I've not heard before.

"I'd like to say I use them but, to be honest, I never have."

Rough isn't your usual comedy club fare.

Rather than delivering witty observations in the usual alternative comedy style, he's one of a dying breed: a comic who shock horror actually tells jokes.

"I work what they call the mainstream circuit, which used to be the domain of the old guys in bow ties telling racist jokes," explained Rough.

"I crossed over about five years ago. I thought it needed shaking up a bit.

"There just aren't many people who get up and tell jokes anymore and I'm much maligned for it.

"The younger comics see it as something from the Dark Ages but in workplaces all over the country people tell each other jokes every day.

" I love Les Dawson and The Two Ronnies. A lot of people admire comics."

Telling jokes isn't necessarily easier than observational comedy, argues Rough. He says his routine takes a massive amount of work.

"If you're naturally funny like Peter Kay you make the mundane hilarious.

"If I did it, it would just be telling a story about my mum making a cup of tea. I have to work hard at it.

"My act is just as observation-based, though. There has to be truth in what you're talking about, otherwise it doesn't work.

"There are hundreds and hundreds of jokes backed up on my computer and I'm writing new ones all the time."

Rough is hoping he gets a good reception on Saturday as the gig is being filmed for his new live DVD.

So what made him choose Lock n' Load as the venue for his DVD?

"I think it's the best comedy club in the north of England," he said simply.

"The people of Blackburn are just really up for a laugh. They're the exact opposite of audiences in London who sit there with their arms crossed.

"The set-up is great, too. You get all the benefits of being in a large theatre but with an intimate feel.

"The staff are fantastic really friendly and the lighting and sound are top notch. There wasn't really a choice for me. It simply had to be Blackburn."

So if people turn up is there much chance they'll get their faces on the telly?

"Absolutely," said Rough. "There's going to be a camera focused on the audience throughout the whole show as well as interviews before and after with audience members. If people come along there's a good chance they'll get themselves on the DVD."

Rough started out as a lecturer in occupational psychology at Bradford University a good grounding for performing, he said.

"I'd say 70 to 80 per cent of comics are ex-teachers. It prepares you very well for it. I've always told jokes and been funny in lectures but eventually I entered the Comedy Store's open mic competition in 1998 and got bitten by the bug. Now, 2,500 shows later, I'm still doing it and wouldn't dream of doing anything else."

Mind you, he doesn't always admit his profession.

"Being a comic is a brilliant conversation starter," he said. "But I've got to admit if I'm in a hotel bar with a load of travelling salesmen and they ask what I do, I'll tell them I'm a plumber, otherwise I'd be standing at the bar telling jokes all night."

See Mark Rough at Lock n' Load comedy club, King George's Hall, Blackburn, Saturday, August 5, 8pm with support Freaks Outing and Jeff Taylor. For tickets £7 in advance and £9 on the door - call 01254 582582.