Eating a potato with a fig roll on your head is not everyone’s idea of funny, but comedian John Hegley is tickled pink by the thought. The performance poet tells MATTHEW JENKIN why.

POET, author, comedian and broadcaster John Hegley seems impossible to pin down or pigeon-hole.

Ironically, fitting in is the focus of his upcoming gig at the Greenwich Comedy Festival next month.

Incorporating music and poetry, John says the show will explore the pressure we all face to conform in society.

A pressure which is the focus of his new book The Adventures of Monsieur Robinet, published in both French and English.

He said: “My Dad was born French and called Rene Robert. The reason I wrote that book is because his French wasn’t used or celebrated.

“I’m saying that you can be both English and you can be French as well, rather than have to choose one thing or the other.

“So if you were to look for a message in the show that would be it. Alongside that there’s a load of stupid stories about potatoes.”

John began his performing career at London's Comedy Store in 1980, and has since gone on to write a number of poetry collections and has appeared on both TV and radio.

He describes himself as a lyric poet because of the musical element to his performances, but asking him to explain his sense of humour I find myself falling down the rabbit hole into wonderland.

He said: “My humour starts by putting some basic things on the table - a pair of glasses, a dog, a potato, a fig roll, a love letter and then seeing what you can do with that.

“So I might start eating the potato, while reading the love letter with a fig roll on my head.

“My comedy is about human frailty and about how little we are and how big our lives really are.”

John suggests reading his poetry to gain a better understanding, but with works including My Dog is a Carrot and The Sound of Paint I’m not sure a less surreal explanation of his comedy exists.

But sometimes viewing life through Alice’s looking glass can be a refreshing alternative to the mundane and the obvious.

John Hegley. Greenwich Theatre. September 7. 020 8858 7755.