He has been describe as "surreal, bizarre, absurd, intelligent, and yet, somehow strangely attractive." But one thing's for sure - comedian Noel James is certainly funny. We spoke to him.

NOEL JAMES is headlining the Lock 'n' Load comedy night at King George's Hall - marking the end of Blackburn's month-long You Must Be Joking Comedy Festival.

And although he admits he hasn't got much of a clue about Blackburn or the gig itself, he says he's looking forward to it.

"I don't really know anything about the gig apart from that I'm doing a half-hour set in Blackburn, but my mate Carl runs the ice cream stall in Blackburn Market so hopefully he'll be coming along, which will be nice," said Noel.

The first thing that strikes you when speaking to Noel is his strong Welsh accent. And despite insisting he's not a political comedian, his heritage isn't something he shies away from during his routine "Any artist is trying to be truthful, that's what it's all about, and I don't pretend to be from England.

" I'm from Wales and I speak like I'm from Wales and I have the perspective of someone living in Wales.

"I don't go on about being Welsh but I do talk a bit about the Welsh language and how difficult it is to learn," continued Noel.

"In Welsh punctuation there's a lot of mutations, and if you look at Welsh people you see the same thing. My eyebrows meet in the middle - but only on a Tuesday for a cappuccino."

Aside from musings about being Welsh, Noel is renowned for his offbeat observations on life.

"People should come to the show with an open mind and not an exact concept of what comedy should be," he said.

"I do word play and linguistic satire, but I also like sick and black comedy too so there's a bit of cruelty in my humour too. I also have a very elastic face and have been known to do some visual gags.

"My Robert de Niro face always goes down well and I might bring my guitar on stage to give a bit of variety."

At 41 (but looking younger) Noel is a child of the '70s and his idols include Monty Python and Laurel and Hardy.

"The '70s was an amazing time for TV comedy and I think that's where it started for me," he said.

"I studied physics at Manchester, but I got bored with it and I'd heard about the comedy scene in London so I went to check it out.

"Like many budding performers I looked at these guys on stage and thought I could do that just as well' and I went from there.

"I've never really had a proper job.

"I temped for BT for a year and did teacher training but then I gave it up to do comedy full time."

After working the London scene for a number of years Noel returned to his native Cardiff, where he set up a regular Welsh-speaking gig and does occasional work for TV.

"I had enough of Welsh jokes and I wanted to relax on stage and not develop an inferiority complex," he said.

Anything else to add before he goes?

"Erm, yeah, I haven't arranged a lift back home from Blackburn to Manchester after the gig and the last train's at 11pm so if anybody knows someone who's going back to Manchester afterwards, could they let me know?"

  • See Noel performing alongside Nik Coppin and Andy Watson and open mic winner Dave Jonker at Lock n Load at King George's Hall, Blackburn, tomorrow night from 8pm. Call 01254 582582 for tickets.