Garden sheds, bus-related accidents and a hatred of Kendal mint cake are among the unusual topics of comedian Andy Parsons’ latest show. He chatted to What’s On about the I’ve Got A Shed Tour, ahead of its arrival in Kent this week.

Andy Parsons is perhaps best known for his appearances on BBC2’s Mock The Week, performing on all 11 series of the topical panel show.

But the comedian still describes live stand-up shows as his first love.

“There are few better feelings than hearing a whole theatre laughing at something you’ve written. Sometimes a room just goes bang! I’ve never got bored of it.”

The comedian also relishes the fact that anything can happen when you are performing live. “It keeps you on your toes,” observes Andy. “You know that the moment you get complacent, that will be the show that bites you on the backside.

“On a 100-date tour, if you had no interaction and you just did the show unchanged, it would soon become pedestrian. The best bits of any show are where you’re interacting with the audience. The great thing is that with Twitter now you can carry on interacting after the show has finished."

But actually sitting down to write the material for a live show can be a struggle, reflected in Andy's choice of title for his latest tour, I've Got a Shed.

"The initial premise was how more than anything else, I enjoy being in the shed at the end of my garden doing absolutely nothing. I have to fight my own laziness to do this show - or indeed to do anything at all! So to write two hours of new material every couple of years is something of a challenge."

His laziness is among the topics covered in the new show, which he admits includes many jokes at his own expense.

He says: “I talk about how lazy and careless I am and how I have a disappointing medical history. If you dish it out, can you take it? Now I’m dishing it out to myself.

“I tell a story about how I recently fell off a Routemaster bus. It was entirely my fault. I was trying to jump off at exactly the right point, and I ended up cartwheeling down the road right in front of a bus queue. They all found it terribly amusing. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I bowed and then went round the corner for a little cry.”

Everyday annoyances have also fuelled much of his new material.

He says: “I do get angry about things. Part of the show details the minor things that have upset me and how ridiculous they are. For instance, Kendal Mint Cake recently came across my radar. I have a rant about that, particularly its taste. They say it’s good for emergencies, but that’s because it’s the only food guaranteed to be left by the time an emergency comes around. It’s not a mint, and it’s not a cake!”

But in addition to Andy’s observations, audiences can also expect his unique take on current affairs, familiar from his work on Mock The Week.

“I am a news junkie and politics will always come into it. Mock The Week works because people really enjoy watching the bun-fight between seven hungry comedians fighting for space. Also, people get their news from comedy shows these days.”

His appearances on the show have helped boost his public profile, resulting in three sell-out tours and two successful DVDs, although he admits there are some downsides.

“The flipside of people knowing who you are,” Andy adds with a smile, “is that when you fall off the bus, the humiliation is that much greater!”

Andy Parsons’ I’ve Got A Shed tour will arrive at The Brook Theatre in Chatham on Friday, September 27. It starts at 8pm. He will also be at Canterbury’s Gulbenkian at 7.30pm on Saturday, October 12. Tickets for both shows are £15.