Ross Noble is offering the perfect alternative to our fragmented online world as he hits the road on his latest tour, his 22nd so far, Cranium of Curiosities.

Dates include Friday, November 14 at Eastbourne’s Devonshire Park; Saturday November 15 at Winchester’s Theatre Royal; Saturday, November 22 and Sunday, November 23 at Portsmouth’s New Theatre Royal; and Friday, November 28 at Brighton, Dome.

And who knows, if you're in the front row you might just be part of the show – in the nicest possible way.

“If the people that come to see the show are relaxed, then there is a good energy that comes from them, and if they've got imagination then the show can be incredible. I think people know that at one of my shows, the people in the front row are not going to be humiliated or belittled, that they're not just going to be used for a cheap laugh. I might have a chat with them but it's all about getting their input and the fact that we are all building something together. It is not about tearing people down. I think we've seen in recent years there's been a rise online with certain comedians that are just about tearing people apart but I'm lucky that people know that I'm not about that at all.

“My show is about creating something, taking the seed of something that is real and just letting it spiral and following the idea. It is about coming together. It's about being together in that room and I think people are desperate now for that kind of experience. People value a sense of community. I think people have become fragmented, and online everyone is in their own echo chamber. People can join together in their groups online but I think people still want that sense of actually coming together with each other with that kind of campfire vibe. Music does that but I think stand up does that brilliantly.”

Ross has been doing it now for more than 30 years: “I started when I was 15. I wanted to be a stuntman. That was my first thing and then I taught myself to juggle and to ride a unicycle. I was going to join the circus. That was going to be my big thing but then I won tickets to see a comedy show and as soon as I saw stand-up I just loved it. It just made sense. It seemed like the most direct art form that you could imagine, the idea of just coming up with an idea and saying it. You don't have to run it past a producer. Even with juggling you would have to have props and work it all out but stand-up it just blew my mind. Other mediums are fine but you just don't have the freedom that you get with stand-up. You are on the move. I don't have to run it past anybody. You don't have anybody interfering or an editor or producer or whatever. You just get the idea and if the audience laugh then you know that you have got it right. It is the fastest route between creativity and delivery.

“I just love doing it. I started out as a kind of sh*t Steve Martin. I used to have props. I used to have a case full of daft props, and for my first gigs I used to take it on stage but then I started noticing that I wasn't getting around to opening the case at all so I stopped taking the case with me. And I think that's how I found my voice. I just get started and I get distracted and people come along and know that I will go off at a tangent and might never come back!”