SEARCH for information about Phil Cool on the internet and the first item you find is... his recipe for bananas on toast, prepared for the Vegetarian Society.

After that, someone called Phil Calvert who wants to share his holiday in Japan with the electronic world pops up under the heading Phil's (cool) home page.

Apart from the odd mention on entertainment websites, the Lancashire comedian is noticeable by his absence.

"I'm a bit of a Luddite," he confesses. "I have been told I must get myself a website. My wife is sorting it out and there will be a website up and running some time next year."

So what has Phil Cool been doing since his contorted face disappeared from our television screens in the 1980s? Touring in this country and playing one-off venues abroad is the answer.

After three series of Cool It for the BBC and two further series on ITV, a reshuffle of management at the independent station resulted in new bosses declining to commission more of Phil's madcap humour.

"I just thought: 'To hell with it. I'll do live gigs instead'," he said.

But almost two years ago he was forced to cancel a series of gigs after a mild heart attack. At 3am on August 22 he, his wife Bev and their son Joe, who was then five, dashed off to hospital where Phil spent a day under observation before being allowed home.

Heart problems run in his family. His father died at 54, the age Phil is now; his brother was just 42 when he died and their mother died at the age of 69, all after suffering heart-related illnesses.

Fortunately Phil's heart suffered no damage and the heart specialist he visited on Wednesday last week said he was very pleased with his recovery.

"I've just been doing a lot of exercise, walking with the dog up the hills in the Forest of Bowland. It's very nice but it rains a lot and I call it the Rainforest of Bowland," said Phil, who lives between Longridge Fell and Whitewell.

Born in Chorley, Phil moved to Euxton and then Leyland before settling in his current home, where he relaxes by fishing when he can find time. The bright lights of London have never appealed to him, although he realises it makes sense for entertainers to have a home there. Nowadays he is content to play venues quite close to home but over the years he has done gigs in Germany, Cyprus, South Africa, Hong Hong and the Middle East.

"I'm getting older and don't want to gallivant about too much," he said.

But his homing instinct doesn't mean a predictable stage show. Phil said: "I'm still mad as anything, completely crazy after all these years -- you have to be."

Part of his one-man show tonight in Blackpool involves him "becoming" comics Jo Brand, Billy Connolly and Eddie Izzard and, as such, the performance is not suitable for children.

He also does an Ali G impression and the facial contortions he is so famous for make a brief appearance during the "weird and wonderful" show.

Phil will perform at the Met in Market Street, Bury, later this month before taking off for Scotland to appear at a fringe event at the Edinburgh Festival from August 11-24 inclusive. The trip will allow him to see Jennifer, one of his two daughters from a previous marriage, who is 24 and lives in Edinburgh. His younger daughter Rachel, 22, works in Clitheroe.

Creativity is the key to his continued enjoyment of entertaining others and Phil bemoans the decline in quality of television programmes.

"Rather than paying celebrities to do things, they seem to drag people off the streets," he said. But despite his disillusionment with the current state of small screen fare, he would give serious consideration to the right opportunity.

"If the right thing came up on TV I would talk to people about it," he said.

Phil Cool is appearing at The Grand Theatre, Blackpool, tonight and at The Met, Bury, on Saturday, July 27.