INSPIRED by a true story of flatulence on an aeroplane and the chaos caused by its unfortunate expellant, Al Pitcher's show Idiot Wind offers sanctuary to anyone who has failed to think before speaking.

Were you the aforementioned proponent of noxious wind, Al?

"No, no, it was the story of a woman who let off a bit of wind on a plane, and she was so panicked by the smell of it that she lit a match, " says the New Zealand comic, who was born in Huddersfield.

"Then someone complained about the smell of burning, so they got fighter jets to bring the plane down, and the FBI was waiting on the ground for her to interview her for two hours."

The story set Al's 2007 Edinburgh Fringe show in motion, and after warming up Idiot Wind at City Screen, York, last summer for its Scottish run, Pitcher comes full circle by presenting it again in the Basement Bar of the York cinema on Sunday.

"I loved that thing in childhood of telling a lie and then you find it grows and grows, but we stop lying like that when we grow up, though sometimes it's still fun to do it.

"If there's an awkward silence in any situation, I always have to break the silence by saying something, " Al says.

There will be little chance of silence in York or Harrogate when the loquacious Al is in full flow.

"My show changes every night. I get very bored with myself; I disappoint myself, so I change it every night, and I always try to make it a round-the-campfire atmosphere. Sometimes I'm willing to be doused in a suit of petrol and I'll die for them, " he says.

Al likes his energetic, freewheeling, improvised shows to be inclusive, so that everyone can share in revelations about putting you foot in your mouth or having faux pas as your middle name.

"I don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable at a gig. I remember a Jack Dee interview years ago where he said he didn't want to pay to see a comedy show and then be part of it, but I'll involve everyone as I want to be their mate by the end of the night, " he says.

"I do love the interaction, I love it to be a oneoff moment, but I never want anyone to feel like, 'oh no, this is the worst moment of my life'."

Unlike that poor woman in the aeroplane, he might have added.

  • Al Pitcher's Idiot Wind, The Other Side Comedy Club, Basement Bar, City Screen, York, Sunday, 7.30pm, box office: 0871 704 2054. Hyena Comedy Club, Harrogate Theatre, Monday, 8pm, 01423 502116.