Stewart Francis has hinted this might be his final tour but the Canadian comedian seems to be enjoying himself too much to call it quits.

It should have been obvious that the king of the one-liner, Stewart Francis, would make a pun when plugging his new tour.

The poster for his last tour, Tour De Francis, had him peeking over the handlebars of a bike. This time his carefully crafted promotion shots have prompted the title Outstanding In His Field.

“See what I’ve done there?” said the Canadian comedian, 53. “It’s visually pleasing and there is a pun in it. There’s no theme to the show whatsoever – it is what it is and the poster is cute and eye-catching and hopefully will help get bums on seats.”

While Stewart might pretend there is nothing particularly significant about his promo material, delving a little deeper tells a different story.

“The ultimate dream gig would be to publish my own cartoons,” said the comic, who turned himself from an unknown into one of the nation’s favourite comics thanks to 10 appearances on BBC’s Mock The Week. Take a look at the promo picture again and Stewart’s affection for the instant cartoon gag becomes apparent.

“It was what I had done in the first place, the single frame, Gary Larson-style comic strip,” he said. “I liked the anonymity of creating a single-frame cartoon, a one-liner if you will.”

Indeed it has been a meandering path for Stewart to get to where he is today. Before his first UK TV appearances in 2008, he had been a game-show host on Canadian show You Bet Your Ass and acted in the sitcom An American in Canada as well as writing for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Then he arrived in Britain at a time when the comedy scene was taking off and capitalised on bookings on Mock The Week, Channel 4’s 8 Out Of 10 Cats and BBC1’s Live At The Apollo and Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow. It also led to him bagging the support act slot on Ricky Gervais’ Science tour.

“Without sounding glib, I had done everything I could have done (in Canada) professionally. Stand-up is pretty bleak in that part of the world. All my life I had been coming to the UK and always loved it and finally I came over here professionally. It’s just so vibrant and it’s overwhelming how much I’ve been embraced over here.

“It’s been a wonderful three or four years for me and it’s down to some TV appearances that have really put me on a lot of people’s radar and I followed that up with what some people would deem to be good comedy. I guess it’s a case of right place right time and being able to parlay 21 years of accumulated material and give that to the people.”

Stewart has hinted that this might be his final tour, although he admits he “said that about the last one.”

Despite the high hit rate of his routine, Stewart’s method of coming up with material is as laid back as his deadpan delivery.

“I try to write on a daily basis though I don’t sit down to do it. Jokes tend to come to me as my brain is conditioned to thinking in that way. Sometimes it will be when I’m doing the dishes.”

Nothing fancy, just jokes

Not one for convoluted stories or working around a concept, Stewart’s live shows simply consist of him packing in as many jokes as he possibly can during his time in front of a crowd.

He said: “I evolved into it, but telling one-liners and jokes is my favourite kind of comedy quite honestly. I like to go on and blow your socks off and step off and leave them thinking, 'Wow, what was that that just hit us?’ as opposed to being a little more self-indulgent and there being more of a reveal to the comedian’s personality.”

On tour with a `genius'

Stewart’s time as support act on Ricky Gervais’ Science tour was certainly an eye-opener for the comedian.

“It was interesting to travel around for the better part of a year in that elite world in which he lives, something I wouldn’t really want to partake in. Ricky’s done incredibly well to have withstood that constant scrutiny. I’m a huge fan of The Office so it was nice to be in the presence of genius. His words, not mine.

“At times, he’s playful as a kitten but there’s also a serious side to the man which goes with being a hifalutin businessman.”

Stewart Francis performs at Tunbridge Wells’ Assembly Hall Theatre on Thursday, April 19. Tickets £17.50. Box office 01892 530613. He is at Dartford’s Orchard Theatre on Sunday, May 20. Tickets £19.50. Box office 01322 220000. Stewart returns to Kent at Margate Winter Gardens on Saturday, September 22. Tickets £18.50. Box office 01843 296111.