BLUE moustached comic philosopher John-Luke Roberts proclaims his manifesto for absurdism at the Burning Duck Comedy Club in York on Saturday with the aid of props, costumes and bouts of clowning.

In a show with the poster and sub-editing unfriendly title of All I Wanna Do Is [FX: GUNSHOTS] With a [FX: GUN RELOADING] and a [FX: CASH REGISTER] and Perform Some Comedy!, Roberts takes a dizzying avant-garde ride through "the 24 lost Spice Girls (Mel A and D-Z), some stuff about pirates and an unearthed Alan Bennett story, A House With Two Loos".

Here Charles Hutchinson lobs a handful of questions in John-Luke's direction.

Why did you choose such an impractical title for your show, John-Luke? It doesn’t leave much room for your face on a poster, does it?

"My general rule is: if it seems like a stupid idea, it’s probably worth doing. The stupider, the better. It’s all very easy to 'do things properly' and 'think things through', but there needs to be some space in the world for having a terrible idea and following it through just for the sake of it.

"(In the arts, I mean, not in the political sphere where it would be quite nice if there was less of that space.) The show’s stupid, so a stupid title means everyone is coming forewarned.

Do you have a brother called Matthew-Mark, keeping it biblical?

"No, I have two other brothers called 'John-Luke' and a third one called 'Oy-oy-oy' because my dad wanted us to sound like a rugby chant when you say our names one after the other."

Given your fixation with the "lost Spice Girls", if you could pick one Spice Girl to go "missing" from this summer's Spice World tour, who would it be and why?

"I reject the terms: I would like 24 more Spice Girls to join them. More if possible: hundreds – no, thousands. I would like so many Spice Girls on the tour that there was only room in the stadiums for one fan, and preferably one who was only sort of interested."

What is the first rule in your manifesto for absurdity?

"Life becomes a lot more bearable if you stop expecting things to make sense."

Think of York, and what is the first thing that comes into your head?

"The smell of Jorvik Viking Centre. It’s seared in my memory from weekend trips there as a child."

Burning Duck Comedy Club presents John-Luke Roberts: All I Wanna Do Is [FX: GUNSHOTS] With a [FX: GUN RELOADING] and a [FX: CASH REGISTER] and Perform Some Comedy! at The Basement, City Screen, York, March 16, 7.30pm. Tickets: thebasementyork.co.uk or wegottickets.com/event/450537.