PAUL Foot’s ideal audience wears yellow – and he’d like you to join in.

“It’s nice to have people in the audience wearing yellow,” he quips. “It brightens the show. Anyone who reads this should wear yellow to the show.”

With his penchant for perplexing well-meaning interviewers, asking the comedian and king of unpredictability a question, no matter how trivial, can be a dangerous game.

In true Paul Foot style, our chat begins haphazardly with the stand-up comedian picking up while still in deep conversation with the receptionist at his dentist surgery. The crux of the matter appears to be that he is paying with Irish notes – he has just returned from Northern Ireland, he explains.

“I’m just in the dentist – I’m not speaking to you,” he says.

For anyone unfamiliar with his off-kilter and self-proclaimed childish and alternative style of humour, Paul Foot is something of an oddity on today’s comedy scene.

Firstly he boats an unusual ‘cult following’ or fan club, better known as his Guild of Connoisseurs. Secondly isn’t one of those extroverted funny-men who fire jokes at anyone within earshot and craves attention.

“There are two types of comedians. There are the ones that are funny at a party and there are the quiet ones at the party who say nothing. But when they get on stage they let rip with the things that they quietly noticed. Most alternative comedians are that type. We silently observe.”

His latest show, Hovercraft Symphony in Gammon # Major, is a healthy mishmash of fiction, observations and anecdotes.

“In all my shows the content is unrelated to the title. This show contains many random events, lies, a vegetable-based tragedy about my life which is lies and a story about taking revenge against a bed and breakfast lady – but that one is true.

“It’s a mix of lies, reality and fantasy. That’s what people expect from me. People who have seen my shows before know they are extremely silly and childish.”

After a quick outline of who his ideal dinner guests would be – Isaac Newton, Benjamin Disraeli and a lesbian thrown in the mix to ruffle their conservative feathers – he shares his life-long dream of being the first man to perform “weightless comedy” in space.

In the short-term he is setting his sights on a more achievable goal. The yellow dress code was not a joke and he is firmly expecting to be welcomed by a sea of sunshine yellow, buttercup and gold when he rolls into in Swindon later this month.

Paul Foot will perform at the Arts Centre on Wednesday, October 29 at 8pm. To book, visit swindontheatres.co.uk or call 01793 524481.

– MARION SAUVEBOIS