WHEN he was at school, Mick Dow was banned from wearing a parka. He explained: "The school thought we'd get knocked down crossing the road because we wouldn't be able to see any cars coming if we were wearing those coats, so the head banned them."

It's ironic then that Mick has chosen to spend so much of his adult life enveloped in a parka snorkel jacket and has won fame and acclaim for a comedy act in which the notorious coats have become his trademark attire.

For Mick is one half of the Men in Coats mime duo and, together with fellow jacket-wearer Maddy Sparham, he has won fans at the Edinburgh Festival, the Royal Variety Show and even within the Royal family.

"The Royal Variety was amazing," said Mick.

"I never realised how many people still watched it.

"The viewing figures were about 10 million.

"Then we went to Clarence House for the anniversary of the Queen's Coronation to do a private performance alongside the likes of Alan Rickman, Ronnie Barker, Maureen Lipman and Penelope Keith. Afterwards we had champagne with all these people from our childhood.

"The Royal family came in and chatted away.

"They were incredibly normal and apparently the Queen really liked our stuff." The "stuff" that Mick and Maddy's performances are made of is decidedly unusual to say the least.

Almost entirely hidden in their scruffy blue jackets, with the fur-rimmed hoods obscuring any facial features, they cavort about on stage performing a series of silent visual gags that tickle the audience with their unexpected humour.

Mick explained: "The big coats kind of help you move around without people knowing where your limbs are.

"They're probably the silliest coats ever invented. There's a lot of natural comedy in a coat anyway.

"The snorkel coats are one of those things everyone in this country remembers.

"Of course, when we perform in hotter countries like Singapore they've never seen these coats before. They just look at us and go: 'This is weird'."

Originally from Ilkley, Mick's career began in street performing from which he continues to draw inspiration.

He met Maddy through a mutual friend and the two started developing their act.

Mick said: "It needed to be a double act. A lot of the gags involve somebody else's legs or hands."

After making an impression performing at Covent Garden they began touring the European festival circuit, leading to appearances at Edinburgh and on the Royal Variety.

Mick said: "The more work you do, the more you learn what's funny. The longer it takes, the more original you can be."

Mick is currently developing a Men In Coats comedy drama for the BBC for which he hopes a pilot will be broadcast in January.

However, he says it will be very different to the live shows they will be doing this autumn in venues like Preston's Charter Theatre and Burnley Mechanics.

"What we're doing in the shows is about live performance," he explained. "You couldn't do what we do on stage on a TV show and have the same impact. The contact with the audience is crucial."

The Men In Coats are at Preston's Charter Theatre on October 16. Call (01772) 258858 for details. They are also at Burnley Mechanics on November 8, box office: (01282) 664400 and The Lowry at Salford on November 24, box office: (0161) 8762000.