He’s a familiar face from the BBC’s They Think It’s All Over, but these days comedian Lee Hurst is more likely to be found enjoying the Kentish countryside and tweeting than on stage, so his show at Dartford this week is something of a rarity.

Tell us about your Kent connections

My mum and my sister live in houses on the Isle of Sheppey. We used to have a chalet in Leysdown years ago, too. We used to go down there for holidays and in the mid-70s we purchased one. It was a big thing to go down there for the weekend from the East End. Then my parents saw these houses going up in Minster and my dad really wanted one. I moved near Sittingbourne about 18 months ago.

Your memories of Kent go back a long way, don’t they?

I have great memories of holidays as a kid in the 60s in Kent. Prior to that, my mum, grandad and the whole family would go hop picking. I remember standing around the big sack cloth, but I don’t remember much else, I was only a little child. There are no photos of course – I don’t remember my mum and dad having a camera. But if I ever smell that burning oil that we had in the huts or the smell of hops, it takes me back there.

What’s your favourite thing about Kent?

I love Faversham. I love the cinema there. In London, going to the cinema is like going to the zoo. But in Faversham it is just awesome. For me Kent is brilliant. Even people in Asda in Sittingbourne are friendly. After time living in London, it’s refreshing.

You’re quite well known for your tweets now – including on KentOnline stories

I do tweet about Kent stuff, and I follow some stuff in Essex too. I don’t follow any ideology and I’m not left wing or right wing and I’m not in the centre – I just float between the two. But I sometimes see things and think “that’s wrong, I don’t agree with that”. I do tweet a bit about Brexit because people suffer from being Brexit now and the Remoaners want to defy a democratic vote. And I get stick for it.

What’s your most extreme view?

Queue jumping should be a hanging offence.

Do you get into political areas in your show?

I don’t do politics in my stand-up. If you want to do politics become a politician. I just want to do straight stand-up. The comedians now on the circuit all have writers. I wanted to prove to myself that I could still write material and deliver it. That is how it should be. I’m semi-retired. But if my jokes make me laugh, then other people will hopefully be laughing too.

DETAILS

Lee Hurst will be at the Orchard Theatre in Dartford on Thursday, April 20. For tickets at £21 visit orchardtheatre.co.uk or call 01322 220000.