COMEDIAN Danny Bhoy was one of the top-selling comedians at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Now he's coming to Blackburn on September 22. He spoke to us before the gig.

He also performed at prestigious invitation-only comedy festivals in Las Vegas and Montreal alongside comedy greats Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO COMEDY?
I was walking by a pub in Edinburgh one night, wondering what to do with my life, when I heard a fight break out. On closer inspection, it wasn't a fight at all, just a comedian being heckled on stage at an open mic night. For 15 minutes I watched a man doing the bravest and most stupid thing in the world and I thought "I want to do that".

YOU SEEM TO HAVE APPEARED ON THE SCENE IMMEDIATELY WINNING PRAISE FROM CRITICS AND AUDIENCES - WERE THERE NO "DARK YEARS" SPENT GETTING BEER BOTTLES CHUCKED AT YOU?
Oh yes, every comedian has to go through the hard graft of doing every comedy venue/gig you can get. I've done them all. The old adage is true - you don't learn anything from a good gig. That's not intended as motivation for the crowd on Friday.

YOU HAVE A REPUTATION FOR BRILLIANT OBSERVATIONAL COMEDY - HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH IT?
I notice things which everyone else notices, but just don't give it a second thought. That's the trick to good observational comedy, identifying something we all do but never really stopped to think about why we do it.

HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH HECKLERS?
I let them make a fool of themselves, then I get on with the show BEING A COMEDIAN, DO PEOPLE EXPECT YOU TO BE FUNNY ALL THE TIME?
Only if you tell them you are a comedian. If a cabbie asks me what I do, I usually say I'm a window cleaner, or a brickie. Then if he laughs at what I say I know it's genuine.

YOU'VE PERFORMED AT THE PRESTIGIOUS MONTREAL JUST FOR LAUGHS FESTIVAL ALONGSIDE SOME OF THE BIGGEST NAMES IN COMEDY, INCLUDING JERRY SEINFELD, CHRIS ROCK, ROBIN WILLIAMS AND STEVE MARTIN. HOW WAS THAT?
Well... I performed at the same festival as them, but not quite alongside them. I only remember sharing a lift with the guy from Everybody Loves Raymond. That was the extent of my comedy schmoozing.

ALL COMEDIANS "DIE ON STAGE" AT SOME POINT IN THEIR CAREER. WHAT'S THAT LIKE?
Imagine the worst day you've ever had at work, multiply it by 10 and imagine waking up the next day and reading about it in the paper.

YOU HAVE SHUNNED TV IN THE PAST TO FOCUS ON LIVE COMEDY. WHY?
They are two entirely different jobs. I have no idea why people think that because you can make people laugh in a room, you are somehow naturally the next presenter of some awful Channel 4 post-pub TV show.

WHAT IS YOUR IDEA OF HAPPINESS?
Sitting in a wood-panelled library somewhere in the Highlands in front of a roaring fire, with a long-haired cat at my feet, a good book in one hand and a fine malt in the other.

WHAT IS YOUR IDEA OF HELL?
Clubbing.

See Danny Bhoy at King George's Hall, Blackburn, Friday, September 22, 8pm. Tickets £8. Call the box office on 01254 582582.