COMEDIAN Phill Jupitus has filled his diary for spring with more tour dates for his 2017 show, Juplicity, taking him to Pocklington Arts Centre tonight.

The Isle of Wight stand-up comedian, poet, improviser and television stalwart from Never Mind The Buzzcocks and QI will "drag laughs out of the chaos of his own life and the uncertain world that surrounds it – and by that world, we mean your world too". Be warned, Jupitus promises "adult themes and situations, delivered childishly".

For this interview, he took a call from What's On as he was heading to the Beeb's Saturday Kitchen studio. "I'm a vegetarian, but I'm not a political vegetarian," said Jupitus. "I just feel better not eating meat, and it'll be all manner of delights on the show.

"I've done it one before, when James Martin was hosting; that was about seven years ago. Saturday Kitchen is one of those shows that I always like, and with cookery shows, the more the merrier.

"When I was touring with Jason Manford [while playing Franz Liebkind in Mel Brooks's The Producers] I'd cook breakfast, doing things like the North African egg dish Shakshouka, which is very simple."

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"Live performance is a gamble, whether theatre, music, poetry or comedy," says Phill Jupitus

What's the recipe, Phill? "Cook tomatoes, onions and chilli peppers in olive oil, and they're better cooked the day before, then poach the eggs in that, stirring in the cumin. It's really good for you in the morning. And I'll tell you who does a nice one: Caravanserai, by the Corn Exchange in Leeds."

Jupitus played Leeds City Varieties on the first run of Juplicity dates last year and rehearsed in Leeds for four weeks for his role as Lord Scrumptious/Baron Bomburst in the 2016 tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, hence his knowledge of the Leeds culinary scene. "I also did a show with Chumbawamba at Leeds City Varieties [Red Ladder's Big Society! in early 2012], which was weirdly big scale but homespun," recalled Jupitus.

He had made his West End singing debut in 2009 as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray at the Shaftesbury Theatre. "That threw me in at the deep end! Not only was it my first musical role, but I was playing a woman – and it's not a drag act. Edna has to be a plausible woman," said Jupitus.

His diverse career has taken in team captaincy on Never Mind The Buzzcocks, the BBC2’s music quiz; regular guest appearances on BBC2's QI and Dave's Alan Davies As Yet Untitled; frequent panellist duties on BBC Radio 4's I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue and The Unbelievable Truth and being resident curator on The Museum Of Curiosity.

His theatre work has varied from playing Bottom in A Midsummer’s Night Dream at Bath Theatre Royal to a West End role as Caldwell B. Cladwell in Urinetown at the Apollo Theatre, London. "I learn a lot more from actors than directors," he says.

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"I need free head space to go off piste," says Phill Jupitus

His Juplicity show brings him back to the world of stand-up comedy, no advice from actors needed! "In this show I do Porky The Poet, like in the old days, at the start, then regular stand-up," said Phill. "You move differently, speak differently, and have a different interaction with the audience when you're a poet.

"The stand-up has much looser moves; I'm more mobile and languorous; I need free head space to go off piste. I've got softer knees, I'm on the balls of my feet, whereas when I'm doing poetry, I'm more grounded, more locked," said Phill, who recalled how "everyone in the Eighties would run around on stage". "You couldn't stop!" he said.

In a new feature for his Juplicity tour, Jupitus has his dressing room on stage."There's a record player, a hat stand and my wardrobe, and I'll be sitting there listening to records, then I put on a hat and jacket and walk to the front of the stage, and there'll be a different jacket for the second half. All in all, I'll be on that stage for three hours," he said.

Juplicity marks his return to stand-up tours after a considerable hiatus. "I hadn't really done stand-up properly since the Edinburgh Fringe seven years ago, though I like taking breaks from it, doing the musicals," he said.

"I use voice memos to record gags, then transcribe them, look at them on paper, then see what works and chuck out the bits that don't, but for this show I had nothing; all my notes had gone as software upgrades had deleted all the voice memos. So with only a month to go, I just did some old bits, following Stewart Lee's advice to book a room, do the old show, then add new bits, testing out a few ideas; then half the old show, half the old, and gradually you erase all the old bits.

"I then toured Australia and New Zealand, and you just need stage time to remember how to do your job. By the end of the Australian tour, I had a completely new show."

Doing stand-up always leaves a performer open to heckling, but Jupitus takes it in his stride. "The best bit of advice to give to a stand-up is to remind them you're in charge, rather than looking for audience approval," he said. "Live performance is a gamble, whether theatre, music, poetry or comedy. You've taken that gamble and if you don't like it, it hasn't paid off!"

Phill Jupitus, Juplicity, Pocklington Arts Centre, tonight, 8pm. Box office: 01759 301547 or at pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk