ROSS Noble has a way with show titles. Noodlemeister. Sonic Waffle. Fizzy Logic. Nonsensory Overload. Mindblender. Nobleism. Unrealtime. Things.

To that list, now add Ross Noble: Tangentleman, whose autumn tour is doing the Yorkshire rounds over the week ahead in Sheffield, Leeds, Hull, Harrogate and two nights at York Barbican on Thursday and Friday.

"I wouldn't say everything goes off at a tangent," he starts. "No. Well, pretty much... but the whole 'tangent' thing is that if you put it in the title of the show, no one can complain that you didn't give them what they wanted. So if people are bring along a friend who has not seen me before, they will say, 'Oh, he talks about stuff" and that leads to other stuff, and then that stuff collides, everyone is happy, we all have a good time and everyone goes home without being hurt."

There, in one answer, is the essence of Tangentleman, the latest show where the 38-year-old Geordie surrealist relies on his improvisational skills and innate tomfoolery.

"The joy of stand-up is that some comedians will do one-liners and carefully crafted material, while the fun for me is to take an idea, kick it around, see where it goes, so it's more about the experience on the night," says Ross.

"Something will occur to me on stage, or something will happen to me that afternoon, or I might see something on the news and I'll use that on the night, and I'll then end up so far from where I started that I'll start again from that point the next night."

For example, Ross?

"Well, if I'm talking about llamas, that might then lead on to gargoyles, so the next night I'll go on and talk about llamas and gargoyles and see where that goes next. It's basically very fluid."

Equally, however, Ross acknowledges that "there are some people that want certain things from you" when he performs. "But I feel it's one of those things where as long I'm enjoying myself and the audience are too, it's fine," he says. "If that doesn't happen, I'll give it up."

Audiences can be a challenge, but a stimulating one.

"I used to have shows where the audience might not be on the same wavelength, and even now you have some nights where the audience don't have as much energy as in another place and they're not giving much to feed off. That becomes a different challenge," says Ross.

"You think, 'how do I get them on my wavelength?', but it's all about 'play'. That's how I look at it.

"At the end of the day, it's a stand-up show, where I want people to have a good time, to laugh their head off, rather than thinking, 'ooh, this is clever stuff''. I don't want them going home having enjoyed form over content: that's when comedy becomes a bit too pretentious."

Meanwhile, if you enjoyed the first series of Ross Noble: Freewheeling on satellite channel Dave last year, the good news is that a second series of Ross's impromptu, improvised travels and encounters is on its way.

Freewheeling differs from his live shows in its contrasting possibilities.

"There's a lot of stuff from the live side of my work that I've brought to the TV shows, not so much the other way round. If you have an idea on stage, you think, 'I wonder if I do this, will it be funny?', and then it becomes 'real' because you can describe it, but on TV I then had to really go and do it."

The second Freewheeling series will have the same format of Ross responding to Tweeted suggestions, but with a slight difference.

"What we learnt from the first series was to be quicker. I'm directing the new series, so it won't take as long to get things done, and each episode is pretty much one story, whereas last time it was a bombardment of things, acting on each Tweet," he says.

"Everyone was more relaxed for the new series. This time, we basically went, 'this is what we're going to do and if it doesn't work, the whole thing collapses and that's fine'. We'll show a lot more mistakes. The new series stays with the madness; it's the same show but it goers on much more of a journey."

The broadcast dates are yet to be confirmed. "We're not sure yet, but probably in the New Year," says Ross, who recalls the York episode of the first series with particular affection. "That was my favourite, the York one with Lesley Joseph, the ghost walk and turning up at the Festival of Ideas. What a great day."

• Ross Noble, Tangentleman, at Leeds Town Hall, Sunday; Hull City Hall, Tuesday, Harrogate Royal Hall, Wednesday; York Barbican, Thursday and Friday, October 17. All shows start at 8pm. Box office: Leeds, 0113 247 6647; Hull, 01482 300300; Harrogate, 01423 502116; York, 0844 854 2757 or yorkbarbican.co.uk