Master surrealist, an unmatched talent and the king of improvisational comedy – just a small sample of the glowing praise which has been heaped on Ross Noble, who is marking a milestone of 21 years in stand-up. James Rampton caught up with one of Britain’s best-loved comedians.

Ross Noble is comedy nobility. For the past two decades or so, he has been one of our leading stand-ups. Over that time, he has been responsible for 13 sell-out tours and seven top-selling DVDs. He came 10th in Channel 4’s 2010 poll of 100 Greatest Stand-Ups.

But he is not just popular in this country. Ross has also undertaken six smash-hit Australian tours and performed everywhere from Singapore and Hong Kong to Montreal and Budapest. At the age of just 36, the Geordie funnyman is already a stand-up legend.

What distinguishes Ross’s comedy is his unique and vivid imagination. He possesses a peerless gift for wonderfully funny and innovative streams of consciousness. This highly original talent means that no two Ross Noble shows are ever the same.

Ross and I are talking in a central London bar in the lead up to the tour. He has just had a year off. During that time, he indulged his passion for riding dirt bikes by taking part in an extreme off-road race in Transylvania.

He said: “I had been gigging solidly for 21 years, so I thought, I’ll take this year off. I won’t tour, but I’ll spend the time doing normal things like an off-road motorbike race through Dracula’s home state!”

Ross admits that at first he was nervous about returning to the live arena after his year away. “I began performing again in Australia earlier this year. When I started, I was thinking, do you have to be match fit like a boxer? What if I’ve forgotten how to do it?

“But the moment I walked on stage and the light hit me, it came flooding back. It was like getting back into a warm bath. The fact that I have not been so caught up in stand-up means that I’m now in my best form for years. The break has given me a new hunger. Having the year off has made me appreciate how much I love stand-up.” His shows have a rare energy because he is such a dazzling improviser.

He said:“What a lot of comedians will do is write a load of jokes, see which ones work and then hone them.

“But I simply go on and improvise. That might spark the seed of the next idea and that in turn might spark the seed of the next idea. I’m so keen to explore new ideas that I don’t keep the original. My show is a constant work in progress. I’m not working towards something. It’s continually fluid.”

Isn’t that approach incredibly scary, though? “The best way to describe it is to say it is like driving a car. When they first start driving, most people are nervous. They have to look at the gear stick and don’t know which pedal is which. But once they get to the point where they can drive without thinking, that’s when they can really start to fly. “Stand-up is exactly the same. Playing a rough club is like driving in heavy traffic – you’re constantly negotiating obstacles. If you skid off the road, you just deal with it. Yes, you might drive up a cul-de-sac, but then you can show off, do a handbrake turn and get back on the road!

“You know when you’re having a drink with a few mates in the pub and you say something funny and everyone laughs and says that was a good one! Making an audience laugh is like that, but multiplied by two thousand.”

Ross Noble brings Mindbender, his first UK show in for two years, to the Assembly Hall Theatre Tunbridge Wells, on Monday, October 1 and Tuesday, October 2. Tickets £25. Box Office 01892 530613. Shows start at 8pm.