BARRY Cryer, the stalwart Leeds comedy writer, performer and radio show panellist, will join Rory Bremner and Friends for Monday's Come Hell And High Water fundraiser at the Grand Opera House, York, in aid of the York Disaster Fund.

"This is my friend Rory Bremner's doing," said Barry. "He asked me to do one of his flood appeal comedy nights before but I couldn't, so I'm delighted to be doing this one, especially as it's in Yorkshire, which was so badly affected last winter."

What brief did Rory give Barry for an 8pm show that will feature Jess Robinson, Rob Rouse and Katie Mulgrew too? "The brief he gave me was brief, so I said 'tell me a little more'. 'OK,' he said, 'it'll be 15 minutes'," Barry recalled. "Have they got a CD player at the Opera House? I hope so because I might actually sing something."

Barry, now 81 and long resident in London, last appeared on the Opera House stage when recording two episodes of BBC Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue in one evening last November. This time, the aim of the evening is more serious. "We're trying to do our bit for the York flood appeal, so the show is not about us but those who have been affected by the floods," he said.

"I have a story about Noah and the Flood, but it wouldn't be appropriate to tell it. For a show like this, you take in what it is and judge your material accordingly. I'm a Yorkshireman, I'm in York, so there'll be a strong Yorkshire flavour to it."

Expect stories of growing up in Leeds, days at Leeds Grammar School, and his "old friend Alan Bennett", his fellow Leeds writer. "We never met in Leeds; it wasn't until we did Beyond The Fringe in London that that happened," he said.

It has been said that Lancashire surpasses Yorkshire in creating comedians, but how come, Barry? "We have to own up that the biggest country in the country has managed to produce far fewer comedians than Liverpool alone, and I don't know why that is, but Yorkshire has produced a lot of writers, like J B Priestley, Keith Waterhouse, Willis Hall, Alan Bennett, and so many more," he said.

As one of Yorkshire's own, Barry will always find humour in his fellow Yorkshiremen. "There's that story of the Yorkshireman who loved his wife so much he once told her," he said, slipping in one of Monday's gags.

Tickets are on sale on 0844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/york