HE tried, he really did. If West Bromwich comedian and television presenter Frank Skinner's return to stand-up in Man In A Suit had a "general theme", it was "a duty of care, trying to become a cleaner, more intellectual comedian".

"Though I'm never sure if I'm being serious about that or just taking the p***," says the 57-year-old host of Sky Arts' Portrait Artist Of The Year and BBC1's Room 101.

So, Frank, you may have been noted for your liberal use of colourful language in past live shows, but how has the self-regulated clean-up campaign gone so far? "I think it started off quite clean at the beginning of the tour, but as I've gone round England and Wales and Scotland, it's got dirtier, like a car picking up dirt on its travels," he says, as he extends his tour by 23 dates to take in Ireland as well as the Grand Opera House, in York, on November 19.

Man In A Suit had a debut run at London’s Soho Theatre in October 2013 and a five-week residency at the Leicester Square Theatre in early 2014. The tour dates and a month-long stretch at the Edinburgh Fringe have ensued, and already a DVD is in the can for release in time to catch the Christmas market.

"I'm still tinkering with the show now," says Frank. "The frustrating thing is that I've already done the DVDand since then there have been a good few gags added, but you just have to accept the DVD is a slice of life done in July at Leicester Square."

Man In A Suit denotes a smartening-up of Frank's look on stage. "To be honest, I've started wearing suits because I've acquired so many from doing the TV programmes. I used to see a suit as being for Sunday best, so my idea of casual now is I don't wear a tie," he says.

"I've heard comedy criticised for having too many men in suits, so I thought I'd defy that, and there's also that old TV series Man In A Suitcase, so the title plays on that."

Not that fashion-conscious thoughts have gone into Frank's stage attire. "I just wear what I turn up in; in the old days it was just jeans and a T-shirt; now I wear suits, and I just think it's what I'm relaxed in," he says.

Frank has felt particularly relaxed on this tour. "I've always thought I was laidback on stage; now I just go out there and it's like talking, not even in a pub, but I could be at home. It's lovely; I feel a warm glow," he says. "But I've always found the idea of it very exciting, even before I started doing it: one bloke in the spotlight with a microphone."

Frank begin building up material for Man In A Suit by doing "20 minutes here, 20 minutes there" on his return to the live circuit after myriad television commitments and no tours for seven years. "I did a thing called Credit Crunch Cabaret, which feels like an antiquated term already," he says.

"I've always done it that way, doing ten minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, but this time I ended doing an hour of completely new material, though I'd been concerned about remembering all that material; I'd seen David Baddiel doing a whole show off an iPad, which makes sense, but I couldn't do it that way," he says.

"Things happen spontaneously on the night, so it's like those blokes who buy a vintage car and spend the rest of their lives tinkering with it. On tour, even though the vintage car is purring, I won't let it rest although I've done the show more than 100 times now."

Frank's diary is as busy as ever, whether presenting his Saturday morning show on Absolute Radio; hosting this month's new series of Sky Arts' Portrait Artist of the Year or next year's Room 101. Or even making a guest appearance in this autumn's series of Doctor Who, playing a character called Perkins in an episode set aboard an Orient Express-style craft that travelled through space.

"I spent many an hour fretting about my performance, whether it was good enough, but once we got closer [to the broadcast], I was thinking 'oh I couldn't care - I'm in it'. So my excitement overtook my personal dignity. That hasn't happened for years," he says.

Room 101 will return to BBC1 in January for Skinner's fourth series as the host. "It gets great numbers," he says. "Guests are given a bit of a speech when they arrive, telling them it's not competitive, and I've always said it works best when there's love in the room and there's a nice feeling between guests, even if they're getting worked up about things. I think people get funnier if they're relaxed, and they're also more articulate when they're criticising things or swinging the hatchet."

Presenting Portrait Artist Of The Year has been a pleasure for Frank. "Doing this show has been one of the joys of my life. I'm right in there; i can actually smell it! It's such a joyous show to to, working with Joan Bakewell," he says.

To cap it all, Frank has created a new comedy panel discussion show for BBC Radio 4, The Rest Is History, which he will be hosting in the time-honoured 6.30pm comedy slot over a six-week stretch. "That's not going to start until next year," he says. "It'll be a mixture of the educational and the funny with a proper resident historian, Dr Kate Williams, and celebrity guests."

Their task will be to help Frank navigate his way through the annals of time, picking out and chewing over the funniest, oddest, and most interesting moments in history. "That's what radio is perfect for," he says.

In the meantime, he will be in the moment, rather than contemplating history, at the Grand Opera House on November 19. "It's become fashionable for comedians to have a very rock solid theme, so obviously that's why I don't have one," says Frank, speaking Frankly.

Frank Skinner: Man In A Suitcase, Grand Opera House, York, November 19, 7.30pm. Box office: 0844 871 3024 or atgtickets.com/york