Funnyman Phill Jupitus is bringing his show You’re Probably Wondering Why I’ve Asked You Here… to the county. James Rampton spoke to him to find out what will be in store.

Phill Jupitus, who after 23 series is the last man standing from the original line-up of BBC2 pop quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks, is an immensely popular comedian. He could easily have hit the road with a show comprising “greatest hits” gags, and no one would have complained.

But instead, Phill has come up with a dazzlingly inventive three-part character comedy routine. “You’re Probably Wondering Why I’ve Asked You Here…” sees the comedian play three very different characters, all dead and speaking from beyond the grave: Vernon Herschel Harley, a legend of stage and screen; German naval officer Kurt Schiffer; and an older version of himself.

Explaining the inspiration behind the unusual act, which proved a hit at the Edinburgh Festival last summer, Phill says: “I did a stand-up show two years ago that was just me telling jokes. I didn’t want to do the same thing again. So this time I was looking for a way of keeping myself interested in the job, and I wanted to approach it in a more experimental way.”

The comedian, who has also enjoyed critical acclaim playing Edna Turnblad in the West End musical Hairspray and King Arthur in the UK and Irish tour of Spamalot, goes on to say he loves the element of the unexpected in the new show.

Phill Jupitus began performing in 1984 when he quit his job as a civil servant to follow a new direction as a performance poet on the alternative comedy circuit, supporting bands such as The Style Council and The Housemartins. His hugely successful stand up tours have included Jedi, Steady, Go and Quadrophobia. He has also toured extensively as part of The Blockheads line-up.

“The joy of stand-up is that when it’s at its best it is like improvisational jazz. The great thing about ‘You’re Probably Wondering Why I’ve Asked You Here…’ is that it’s a show where I know the characters, but I don’t know what they’ll be asked. Every night is different.It’s entirely dependent on the audience. I wanted to find a way of incorporating into the live work the kind of thing that happens on Buzzcocks, where it flies in an entirely free-form manner. Once the audience get what you’re doing, they start to participate, and that’s when the show takes off.”

Phill gives an example of the inspired way in which the audience contribute to the show.

“When I was playing Vernon, one guy from the audience said, ‘tell us about your feud with Tony Curtis, which I know you don’t like to talk about’. That was brilliant. On another night, an audience member shouted out to the German submarine commander, ‘tell us about your secret mission to kill Winston Churchill’. I gave that a 10-minute answer. You have to go deep into the character. The more creative the audience, the more they are rewarded with the responses.”

Phill carries on by fleshing out the three characters for us. “I chose Vernon because I’m really keen on film and theatre. If anyone throws a particular film or actor at him, there is no way he has not worked with them. So if someone says, ‘Tell us about The Lord of the Rings,’ Vernon will reply, ‘That was one of the most difficult catering jobs of my whole career. As you know, Peter Jackson is dieting quite seriously’. It’s that great improviser’s maxim of never saying no to an idea.

“If you ever hear actors on Desert Island Discs, they’re always very cheesy. They’ve always got a story about ‘dear, dear Larry Olivier’. Vernon is that character taken to ludicrous extremes.”

Phill derives just as much pleasure from portraying Kurt. The comic muses: “As a kid, I was fascinated by the Second World War. I was born in 1962, and the war was very much part of the zeitgeist back then. My grandparents and parents would talk about the war and rationing. So it is cathartic to have this chance to get that out of my system. Compared to the florid Vernon, Kurt is quite taciturn.”

In the final part of the show, Phill plays a deceased version of himself, reflecting on his life. He said: “It’s a great device because the audience can ask me not just about myself, but also about current affairs. I can spiral off, looking at the future of the world over the next 40 years.

“The other day, an audience member said to me as The Late Phill Jupitus, ‘Tell us about your first Budget’. I replied, ‘A lot of people were very surprised when I was made Chancellor by Prime Minister McIntyre in his all-comedy Cabinet’.”

Phill adds: “I love doing stand-up, and I adore doing this show because I get to muck around with the audience. People will have seen me on Buzzcocks, but this is something they won’t have seen me doing before.”

Phill Jupitus will be at Maidstone’s Hazlitt Theatre on Thursday, May 16. Tickets £15, call 01622 758611.