BROADCASTER Danny Baker is making his stage debut in Cradle To The Stage, playing the Grand Opera House, York, on April 26 as part of a 35-date tour.

"The stage has always been my first love," says the 59-year-old radio and television presenter, comedy writer, journalist and screenwriter from Deptford, London. "Let me put that another way. I have never done anything like this before in my life. However, to travel from town to town addressing a fabulous gathering of like-minded chums each night seems to me exactly what Shakespeare would have done, had not the hefty rent at The Globe kept him in London.

"As a consequence, William Shakespeare toured about as frequently as Kate Bush. Well not me. I own very few theatres anymore and so I am now totally free to charge about here and there wowing the folks with my anecdotal back catalogue, games involving sausages and impressive six octave range."

No two nights of this Baker extravaganza will be the same, he promises. "This is less of a boast than an admission that a) I am hopeless at learning scripts and b) I still have no idea what I am going to include. Perhaps you can help?

"If you’ve read my books, watched the series based on them or, indeed, ever caught anything I have presented on television/radio, then maybe you might contribute to the feast of reason and flow of the soul that I guarantee these evenings will contain. Questions like, 'Did your friend really eat saveloys from a pith helmet' or 'What was meeting John Lennon/Michael Jackson/David Bowie/Kenneth Williams like?', or, I suspect, most popular of all, 'How comes you’ve made so many rotten TV programmes, Dan?'."

Baker will "arrive in front of you going off like a Cacophonous Catherine Wheel of Chat, armed with hundreds of tall tales to tell, many complete with proof from my family picture album to stop you thinking I am simply raving". "I’ve been at this showman racket a full 40 years now, my friends. There is truly much to discuss and plenty to be held to account for," he says.

"A night at the theatre can either be deep dish or high kicking. What I promise to haul before you is very much in the latter category. Content wise, I will make Springsteen and Dodd look like short-changing slackers. I can’t wait. This is the sort of radio I’ve always wanted to do, ie, radio without radio. Just me and you.

"In fact, if you don’t show up I’m going to do it in your local theatre anyway. So you may as well come. Why should the ushers have all the fun? So, in short, roll up, pile in and hang on to your hats. I am back where I belong. On the stage! Shove over Tommy Steele – there’s a new sheriff in town! See you there.”

Baker has worked in print and on television and radio for more than 30 years. His autobiographies were adapted into the BBC series Cradle To Grave and he is now working on the third instalment. On Saturday mornings, he hosts his BBC Radio 5 Live show with its mixture of music, sport, guests and Baker's signature encyclopaedic wit.

Tickets for his 7.30pm gig on April 26 are on sale at £21.25, concessions £19.25, on 0844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/york