MIND the gap is a sign you will see at train stations and underground stations in the UK.

According to Wikipedia, Mind the Gap is: “An audible or visual warning phrase issued to rail passengers to take caution while crossing the horizontal, and in some cases vertical, spatial gap between the train door and the station platform. The phrase was first introduced in 1969 on the London Underground in the United Kingdom. It is today popularly associated with the UK among tourists because of the particularly British word choice (this meaning of the verb mind has largely fallen into disuse in the US).”

Moving forward to 2018, Mind the Gap is something which comedian and parent, Sam Avery would warn all parents be they old or new or about to become.

Taking about comedy and what amuses him about his comedy he said: “I find the gap between expectation and reality.

"It is what you think something will be like and what it actually turns out like. I came to being a parent with rose tinted spectacles but what it is actually like is so different.”

This gap between perception and reality is mirrored in Sam’s award winning blog The Learner Parent, which he started when his his twin boys were born (they are now three-years-old).

He tells the world about a million nappies, Peppa Pig episodes and a head-full of hair loss later, he shares all the lows, highs and hilarious in-betweens of his experiences of first-time parenthood.

Being a parent is for Sam a learning experience and one which he does not feel he will ever lose his L plates.

He believes once you think you have got a handle on what you think parenting is, that is the moment you become rubbish at it again.

Speaking about his experiences as being a parent, he said: “I have learnt I have a lot more patience than I thought. I can function on three hours sleep better than I thought I could but physically I am a mess. My hips, legs, back and shoulder are all in pain and both my knee and ankle ache and my ankle is going funny.

“My body feels older but I feel mentally I am a lot younger as I engage with my kids all the time and am having in some ways a second childhood with them. It is great to see them using their imaginations and realise it gets knocked out of us as adults.

"They start throwing around crazy ideas and when I hear them I think I used to be like that.

"I used to have dreams and I want them to retain their imagination. I have found being a parent teaches you what is important to you and what is not.

“I used to chance fame and fortune but now the little moments with my kids like having a cuddle or one of them falls asleep on my chest is so much better.

"It is these moments of serenity which are so much better but even experiencing these things you still have to pay the bills.

“The change is gradual. You don’t want to go out anymore but would rather have a night in and get a goodnight sleep.

“I came to being a parent late, I was 36-years-old when the kids were born.”

One of the more prominent topics on Sam’s website is poo, not because as he says: “I like using excrement as cheap jokes.

"No, but at the moment we are potty training the kids and so it is part of the show. This show is not high brow it is full of laughs.”

But becoming a parent and having to help his children grow up is nothing something he would change.

He said: “Parenthood carries with it very few rewards and a lot of pitfalls but it is always worth it.”

I don’t think he wants to be the best dad in the world, just the best dad he can for his twins.

Maybe he would like them to say this speech to him from the 1989 film Parenthood.

It is when Kevin Buckman, age 21 says: “Thank you. When I was 9 years old, I had kind of a rough time.

"A lot of people thought I was pretty mixed up. But there was one person who got me through it. He did everything right.

"And thanks to him today, well I’m the happiest, most confident and most well-adjusted person in this world. Dad, I love you. You’re the greatest!”

You can see Sam Avery at the The McMillan Theatre in Bridgwater on October 20.

Buy tickets online at mcmillantheatre.com or call the box office on 01278 556677.