PATRICK Monahan, the Irish-Iranian comedian, tells tales of being an immigrant in Great Britain in his That 80’s Show gig at Pocklington Arts Centre tonight.

As with his 2015 show The Disco Years, Monahan’s new stand-up outing is directed by Phil Nichol as he recalls his family arriving in Teesside in the 1980s after escaping from the Iran/Iraq war.

Monahan discusses his personal experience: his move from Iran to the UK with his parents; starting school without any grasp of English vocabulary; his Irish/Iranian heritage; his father’s encounters with discrimination and his mother’s experience of migration.

"I was about four or five years old when we came to Britain; my mum is Iranian, my dad is Irish, and he was working on the oilfields over there when there was a revolution in 1979 and the war kicked off in 1980," says Monahan. "My parents thought, 'we've got to get out of here' because there was such chaos, and luckily they did manage to get out.

"My dad had left Ireland for Iran because there was no work, but when we came back, he found work with British Steel at Redcar, and I started school there. I remember when we first went in, my first language was Fasi, which we spoke at home, so I could understand what the teacher was saying in English, but I couldn't say it in English. I was speaking in Fasi instead.

"It was one of those things that was more confusing for the other kids, rather than for me. Now it's so different, because everything is so PC, but back then there was just confusion as people didn't travel as much as we do now."

How did Monahan cope with the challenges he faced? "I would say that as with most comics, the thing you have to fall back on at school is your humour. I remember it was always a bit weird for people that I couldn't understand the fuss about Iraq, but I would have to use my humour as my defence mechanism," he says.

Although That 80's Show focuses on Monahan's experiences in that decade, he also draws comparisons with children growing up today. "For those kids now, you've got Trump and Brexit to discuss, and the beauty for a comedian doing a topical show is that no show is ever finished, so it's a blessing to have an hour and a half, after the hour-long version at the Edinburgh Fringe last summer."

Comedians will look at a subject in a way where they will take things seriously but not too seriously, suggests Monahan. "So we have that slight advantage, the comedian's tool, where we can laugh at things. We have to remember that our audiences have been working all week and the last thing they want when they're coming out to relax is to hear about how bad the world is. You've got to be careful about not crossing over the gap between commenting humorously and preaching," he says.

"You have to look for the humour, and the good thing is that there's so much bonkers stuff going on that audiences are ahead of it, but they look to comedians to take it to the next level."

Monahan has taken his shows to Europe, the Middle East and Australia as well as around Britain. "The difference is that there are no restrictions here, whereas I've done shows in the Middle East where I've been asked not to talk about their Royal Family or their government, such as in Bahrain and Dubai," he says. "I think every comedian should take their shows overseas because it broadens your material, the way you communicate. It makes you sharper."

Monahan believes we should be living in more understanding times now. "That's the point I try to get across in the show: now that we have more information, that should be an advantage, but in fact it seems to be a disadvantage as it creates fear," he says.

Look at his own status of being Irish-Iranian but raised in the north east of England. "I'll say I'm northern, but then people will say, 'where are you really from?'. I originally had an Iranian passport, now I have an Irish one." Welcome to Patrick Monahan's world.

Patrick Monahan presents That 80's Show, Pocklington Arts Centre, tonight at 8pm. Tickets cost £14 at pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk and on 01759 301547.