Ross Noble will walk through 'giant cyborg' version of his head at Edinburgh Playhouse

FUNNYMAN Ross Noble is halfway through an 85-date international tour of his new stand-up show Humournoid, which brings him to the Capital in May.

Ross Noble

He has just arrived back in the UK after the Australian leg so what can we expect from the tour?

“I can tell you one thing to expect. I’ve always been a fan of breaking away from the thing of a comedian just standing in front of a blank stage with a couple of lights, a stool, and a table with some water on it. Now, if you can’t go two hours without a drink of water, there’s something wrong...

“If you go and see Phantom of the Opera, he’s not on stage constantly swigging water, is he? So I don’t do that. I like to create massive sets. I’ve always loved the idea of this big, theatrical, rock and roll set and then just this bloke walking on and talking.

“So on the stage I’ve got a massive head, which is my head, and it’s connected by veins which are LED lights. It’s like a giant cyborg Total Recall version of my head, and I walk out through the two halves of my head. It’s totally unnecessary but it makes me laugh a lot. And then it’s whatever pops into my head after that.”

Much of his act is improvised he reveals, although he’s not sure how much.

“I’ve never measured it. What I do is I go on stage at the beginning and improvise, then if something tickles me I might write it down and then the next night, I’ll go back to that idea.

“So it’s never quite the same.”

Ross Noble: Humournoid, Festival Theatre, Nicolson Street, 10 May, 8pm, £25