After building an army of followers in a remote corner of Kent, cult comedian Paul Foot is heading out on a UK tour. Chris Price tries to get to grips with the self-proclaimed King of Deal and Sandwich.

Over the past year on the Kent coast, comedian Paul Foot has kick-started something of a local phenomenon.

At times confusing, surreal and camp to the last, he has found an outlet for his eloquent and inspired musings as the host of the Private Widdle Social Club.

The night of variety entertainment is mainly held at Deal’s Astor Community Theatre and started about a year ago. Since then it has become a monthly fixture and has made its first appearances in Whitstable over the summer.

“The first time I went down as an experiment and it all just worked very well,” said Paul, speaking in his slow, considered prose. “I enjoyed it and I think my anarchic approach to the evening suits it well. Hence we have started a beautiful friendship.”

His next visit to Kent is in his main capacity as a solo stand-up, beginning the tour of his latest Edinburgh Fringe Festival show Still Life. For those unfamiliar with the cult comic’s style, it is fair to say even the man himself struggles to know what happens when he appears on stage. But of course, bemusement is entirely the point.

“My aim is to create a show which is funny all the way through but no one knows why,” said Paul, 37. “I think it is a reasonable goal as we are drifting through life towards death. It is just an exercise really.

“There is something interesting in comedy that is funny but you don’t know why it is funny. One person who came to my show at Edinburgh was doing a Ph.D in comedy and he said there were parts that he didn’t know why they were funny, even with his extensive academic understanding.

“Sometimes things happen in my show and people laugh and then I think: 'Why am I laughing at this?’ As a comedian I think how did I write that and why did it occur to me? All I know is it works.

“It is as if one is worshipping at the altar of a comedy god but I don’t know the secrets of the god. I’m just channelling his humour.”

Even if it is hard to pin down his humour, the self-proclaimed King of Deal and Sandwich certainly has his own style. Sporting a mullet and velvet suit, his last Private Widdle Social Club appearance saw him riding a shire horse around the town centre. He calls his fans his connoisseurs and is Life President of the Guild of Paul Foot Connoisseurs, a society which regularly follow his gigs.

“It is nice to take people on a journey and to challenge people,” said Paul.

“People are amused and also bemused at my shows. Someone said to me a long time ago that people laugh in their own lives so why do we need comedians? I say when people see a comedian they are not just laughing, it is affecting them in other ways. It is designed to make them think.”

Paul Foot’s Still Life tour kicks off at Deal’s Astor Community Theatre on Saturday, September 24. He then comes to Whitstable’s Horsebridge Arts Centre on Saturday, November 5. The next Private Widdle Social Club is at the Astor Community Theatre on Saturday, October 15.