WHEN he comes to Burnley Mechanics next Thursday, comedian Lee Mack will be hoping his secret won't slip out.

"Yes, it's true," he says. "I am a Blackburn Rovers supporter.

"I shouldn't say that if I'm playing Burnley, should I?"

But Lee can perhaps be forgiven for his allegiance to Ewood Park.

His parents were the licensees at the Centurion pub on the Roman Road estate for a while and Lee attended the then Everton High School.

"I was born in Southport and that's where I still live, but we were in Blackburn for some time. My dad still lives there in fact."

Lee -- best known from his appearances on Channel 4's Sketch Show, which he also co-wrote - will be coming to Burnley as part of a nationwide tour.

It is also a return to his first love -- stand-up comedy.

"Because of the TV series, people think that's what I do but I've been doing stand-up for about eight years.

"Through filming commitments it's taken a bit of a back seat over the past couple of years but now I'm back on the road.

"It's one of those things, if people ask you where would you like to be in five years' time I will always say in a club somewhere with a microphone in my hand."

Unlike his TV work, Lee enjoys the freedom that a live show gives him.

"It's about 80 per cent made up of random thoughts," he says. "If you're driving to the gig and see something funny you can bring it in to that night's show. You can't do that if you see something amusing on the way to the TV studio. Everything is planned."

After leaving school Lee tried "every menial, low-paid job going," including a spell as a stable lad with Ginger McCain, the trainer of Red Rum, and as a Pontins' Blue Coat.

"Sometimes I talk to the audience and find out that people are doing a job I've done and we'll start having a chat about it. Then it's like 'Well, best get back to some comedy now'."

A regular on the comedy circuit, particularly at the Comedy Stores in both London and Manchester, Lee has been able to try out material for the tour.

"With a tour you have got to be that bit more organised. At the Comedy Store you may be on for 20 minutes with four or five other comedians, but a tour is different."

Taking in the whole country, the Burnley date will allow Lee to really be himself on stage.

"I tend to speak quickly and I do find that when I'm playing to London audiences I have to consciously slow down. But in Burnley I can speak normally."

With his quick mind and at times surreal observations, Lee is one of the rising stars of the comedy circuit but he doesn't seem troubled by the pressure.

"I'm not laid-back in life but I probably am doing stand-up," he says. "I am very nave on stage. When people shout something out I always see it as them having a laugh, as though they are enjoying the show so much they feel they must get involved.

"It's only afterwards, when someone says 'you dealt with that really well, particularly as he was having a real go at you' that I realise the truth."

Lee is constantly developing his routines and changing the act.

"I'd like to think that by the end of the tour the show will be full of different material from the beginning. It's not a case of having the tour scripted and that's it. I don't work that way."

With the TV show success, Lee is now attracting a much wider audience and has a higher profile.

Not bad for a lad whose school report said: "Sooner or later Lee will realise that joking around in class will get him nowhere in life".

"I've still got that report framed on my wall," he says.

Lee Mack plays Burnley Mechanics on Thursday, October 17.

Tickets priced £10 Are available from the box office on 01282 664400.