LAST year’s Celebrity Mastermind winner and former King of Twitter, Mitch Benn, is back on the road with his comedy rock show.

Mitch will be shining a comic light on the taboo subject of death in Don’t Fear The Reaper, a show inspired by last year’s loss of so many of our icons of music, stage and screen.

Unashamedly stealing the title from a Blue Oyster Cult song, the stalwart of BBC Radio 4’s Now Show will be dropping into Swindon’s Arts Centre on Sunday, February 26, where he will be facing his own and our mortality.

Mitch said: “It was the fact of the slew of famous people dying last year that got me thinking about my own mortality and mortality in general.

“It’s the one thing that truly unites us, but the last thing we want to talk about. So I decided to crack a bunch of jokes and sing some songs about it instead.”

Last year the musician faced a fear that makes even the bravest souls quake - Mastermind’s black chair!

Mitch said: ‘’Bizarrely I was more nervous watching the broadcast. I had an inexplicable fear that despite having won when we recorded the show I was going to lose when it went to air. No idea where that came from!”

He admits that for sheer stage fright it was his first step on to the big comedy stage at Glastonbury in 1995 that still sends shivers down his spine, but he obviously made the right impression as he won the Best New Comic award, and has been invited back every year since.

The musician is much sought after for radio and television slots including BBC Radio 4’s The Now Show, his own Mitch Benn’s Crimes Against Music, BBC2’s Steve Wright Show, Channel 4’s Bremner Bird and Fortune and BBC1’s Watchdog.

It was during a session for The Now Show in 2009 that Mitch made a bid to knock Stehen Fry off the throne as King of Twitter. He appealed to the show’s 1.5million listeners to follow his account and topple the reigning king. A week later he had jumped from 1,200 followers to just under 4,000.

He and his wife Clara set up a Twitter account called Things Greta Says, posting amusing quotes from their daughter, seven at time.

Mitch said: “It hasn’t done Greta any harm as her career is rapidly eclipsing mine. She’s doing stand up now, she’s got an acting agent… I’m immensely proud, obviously, but I have told her if she gets into Doctor Who or Game Of Thrones before I do, she’s out on the street.”

The musical comedian is also a huge sci fi fan and author of two books, Terra and Terra’s World published by Gollancz.

He said: “As far back as I can remember I’ve always been into SF; I was into Trek before I was into Star Wars as I was watching Trek repeats on the BBC from about the age of three, and Star Wars didn’t come out until I was nearly eight. My main thing is Doctor Who though.”

So much so that Mitch’s 2010 tour was called The Rhyme Lord Tour, but this year it is the reaper tour and he will be dropping into the Old Town Theatre from 7.30pm. tickets are £16.50 from 01793 524481 or www.swindontheatres.co.uk.