ROB Beckett’s comedy has long been packing a solid punch, so he’s found the ideal title for his new touring show in Wallop!

“As a word, ‘wallop’ just isn’t used enough but I use it quite a lot,” explains the London comic. “I think it sums up me and my show. ‘Here it is, have a bit of that’, we’ll enjoy ourselves and then go home.

“My show isn’t going to sort out Brexit, but it will take your mind off it for an hour and a half. Essentially, the show is all about the funniest things that have happened to me or I’ve thought of since the last tour.”

As a father now of two toddlers, the temptation for Beckett might have been to make Wallop! his ‘new-dad’ show. He’s more or less resisted that. “Though I have kids, it’s not my ‘I’m gonna talk about my kids for 90mins tour’. I love the kids and that’s going to be the hardest thing about going on tour. It’s not really about the things my kids have said, it’s more about my new relationship with my in-laws and my own parents.”

Rob is a regular face on TV, having been a team captain on 8 Out Of 10 Cats, hooked up with Mr Ranganathan on Rob And Romesh Vs., narrated Celebs Go Dating and made numerous appearances on The Jonathan Ross Show, A League Of Their Own and The Graham Norton Show.

And he has plenty of future plans. “I want to do stand-up forever,” he enthuses. “I’d love to fill my local, the O2. It would be a dream of mine to have that many people in one place coming to see me.

“I also love hosting and presenting TV, and I’d really love to have a chat show later on in my career when I’ve calmed down a bit. I don’t think I’d get that much out of the guests at this point, but later on when I’m a bit more tired, I think I’d be a good chat-show host.”

Rob brings his Wallop tour to G Live, Guildford, on Thursday 5 March and the New Victoria Theatre, Woking, on Sunday 31 May.

For the full story get the 27 February edition of the News & Mail