Lenny Henry thought he had outgrown character comedy, but now he is back with his highly personal new live show, and happier than ever. CHARLES HUTCHINSON reports

HAVE You Seen This Man?, Lenny Henry's 25-date new touring show, arrives in Yorkshire on Sunday night for a 7.30pm show at Leeds Grand Theatre.

Comprising entirely new material, multiple characterisations, impressions and sound effects, Have You Seen This Man? features Henry relating the tales of his West Indian mother's arrival in England in the 1950s, growing up in the Black Country, getting older and being a 21st century kinda guy.

Lenny has returned to BBC1 this winter with his Golden Rose of Montreux award-winning sketch show, Lenny Henry In Pieces and is now relishing going back on the road. "I'm absolutely delighted about it. It's my job. I've been doing it since I was 16, and I'm still totally passionate about it. It gives you a unique buzz," he says.

"But it's also a very good way of evaluating how funny you are. Audiences are the ultimate bull detectors; they tell you immediately whether or not something's funny. You don't have to wait six months while you develop and rehearse it. Live comedy is about getting an instant response - not from a focus group but from an audience right here and now.''

His overriding concern is to raise laughs. "Now I just really want to make people laugh. In the past, I was more concerned with how things looked than how funny they were. You can't take funny as a given or do things just because you think they're hip. If it doesn't make people laugh, it's not working.''

Henry has shaped his new live show with help from Theatre De Complicit director Simon McBurney to create a narrative arc from the opening story of his mother's journey from Jamaica to the bravura closing account of West Indian funerals.

"These occasions are sad at the time, but on reflection the sight of a guy turning up for a funeral dressed as a cowboy is actually quite funny," he says. "The men at a West Indian funeral help to dig the grave, and it often turns into a macho rivalry between the guys, who are all keen to prove that they are the best at digging. The women stand around taking the mickey out of them - 'You call that digging? Where's the white man with the JCB?'''

Henry reckons his audiences have grown up with him and are ready for this more mature material. "They see that this show is about somebody's life, and they get it,'' he says. ''It's not like the shows I may have done in the past - it's more serious. People might come along thinking it's going to be loud with lots of shouting and 'Katanga, my friend', but this show is not as two-by-four in the face as that.

"Have You Seen This Man? is more personal and painful. I hope it also makes a greater connection with the audience. Once people get into the rhythm of it, they will start to think 'I understand, I see where he's coming from'. It is a show that should have universal resonance.''

Henry suggests the tone of his act nowadays fits with the general trend towards more personal comedy. "The more painful and embarrassing the material is, the more people like it,'' he says "The more audiences think 'Oh no, don't say that,' the more they lap it up. Comedy has moved on.

"I admire the vaudeville of the silent comedians and The Two Ronnies, but we have now got to the point where people want to see themselves reflected on stage and screen. Look at the success of reality TV shows like Big Brother. Comedians have grasped that. They realise that audiences no longer want a performer in a red nose, a silly wig and daft costume; they want someone who is like their mate from down the pub. We like to watch mirror images of ourselves - and that's hard when you're dressed as a drag-queen!''

Henry is "really, really happy with what I'm doing now": "I once thought character comedy was a bit transitory and wanted to do things with more depth. I looked covetously at other comedians doing movies and TV dramas. But having done all that, I now realise that if you do it well, there is absolutely nothing better than character comedy. After the show, people come up to me in the street and say, 'I loved that.' I can't tell you what a kick that gives me.''

For tickets, priced £12.50-£16.50, ring 0113 222 6222

Updated: 08:46 Friday, March 29, 2002