2014 was not kind to Andrew Lawrence.

The comedian found himself under unprecedented scrutiny and on the receiving end of vitriolic slurs after taking to Facebook to slate his fellow stand-up comics for targeting UKIP.

But true to himself, the comic has turned a tricky year –one of changes and new chapters - into what he does best: a glut of jokes in a new show, fittingly or perhaps cynically titled Reasons to Kill Yourself.

He was never one to stand for censorship.

Through the media furore, he has remained true to his creed: comedians should not court easy laughs, pander to political correctness or be complacent and that’s all there is to it.

“Watching panel shows you’re consistently seeing comedians make the same jokes about UKIP over and over. I thought ‘Talk about other parties, talk about other things that are going on. It felt like an easy joke and target, which comedians took an easy approach to. It’s an easy laugh. By all means make jokes about UKIP and everything else going on on the political scene.

“I would like to think that stand-up draws people together. It’s a bit idealistic. But it’s about that shared experience. It’s about understanding, tolerance and a celebration of people’s differences.”

Although determined to stand his ground, the backlash sparked by his post has left him wary and somewhat disillusioned with some numbers’ egg-shell approach to stand-up comedy.

“I think I could have been more judicious about the things I put on Facebook. I have learnt in the past few months that you have to be careful what you say on social media.

“Comedians are very restricted at the moment in what they can or can’t say. There is a certain amount of censorship. A lot of comedians coming on TV have to be quite bland. They think ‘What can I say that’s going to offend the least amount of people?’ It’s quite depressing. It’s fine to make jokes about anything. You can make jokes about any subject.”

But don’t be fooled by the grim title or fear a change in tone in this latest show. Through the ups and downs, Andrew Lawrence never for one second lost track of his goal – to entertain.

“I always try to have an interesting title. Death underlies the whole thing but it’s not a particularly thematic show. It’s about how we experience small deaths as we go along in life. There are all these small ways in which we all have to start again. Last year I had to make changes in my life. It was my career, my relationship; everything came to a head at once. I needed to start everything again. The show is exploring when you need to end things in life and when you need to start something new.

“The focus is on being very funny and it being an entertaining show. My job is to make an audience laugh.”

The comedian was thrust in the limelight after being crowned BBC New Act of the Year in 2004.

That same year, he won the York Comedy Festival New Act of the Year Competition and Amused Moose Starsearch. He has since appeared on various shows including BBC’s Live at The Apollo C4’s Stand Up For The Week.

Despite his unconditional and very precocious love of comedy, he never pictured one day actually forging a name for himself on the ‘members club’ stand-up scene.

“It always seemed like a closed shop, the entertainment industry. I didn’t think there would be any chance or possibility that it would be something I would be able to make a living out of. I was lucky in terms of timing. When I started there was nowhere near as many people as there are now. I won the BBC new act award in 2004 and I thought I would have a crack at doing it.”

His fresh stance to his craft - relying on instinct and veering away from the script in favour of free-style comedy- has remained his trademark every since those first days.

“There is a lot of satisfaction from improvising. You operate on instinct. To get a good reaction and feel that you connected with audience, doing it off the cuff, feels better than if you got the same reaction from something you’ve prepared, although it has its rewards.”

Andrew Lawrence will be at the Arts Centre on Friday, February 13 at 7.30pm.

Tickets cost £15.

To book go to swindontheatres.co.uk or call 01793 524481.