WHAT is real? Who are we? Where did this baby come from?

In Re:Birth, Essex comedian Russell Brand wrestles with these questions while unravelling the matrix of modern media, politics, sex, fatherhood and death next Thursday in York.

"How do we make sense of the madness of our lives once we become parents?" asks Brand. "What am I going to tell my daughter about conformity and responsibility? What happens if she grows up to be like me or, worse, date someone like me?"

Since rising to fame in 2003, Brand has toured such stand-up shows as Shame in 2006, Only Joking in 2007, Scandalous in 2009 and Messiah Complex in 2013 and 2014, a show that elicited a DVD too. Messiah Complex brought Brand to York Barbican in March 2014, when he discussed his heroes, Jesus Christ, Che Guevara, Gandhi and Malcolm X, amid his traditional material about drug abuse and sexual exploits, on his first visit to the city since a brace of gigs at the Grand Opera House in 2006.

Aside from stand-up, Brand is a broadcaster with a controversial past and an actor on stage and screen, as well as an author, podcaster, columnist, political commentator and mental health and drug rehabilitation activist.

He has been on the road with Re:Birth since April, visiting every corner of Britain and Ireland by May 31 2018. Among the dates are Leeds Town Hall on October 17; Harrogate Royal Hall, December 12; Hull City Hall, March 7, and a re-birth for Re:Birth at York Barbican on April 24.

Tickets for October 12 and April 24 are still available on 0844 854, at yorkbarbican.co.uk or in person from the Barbican box office.