COMEDY for many comedians must be like a riddle wrapped in an enigma, a Rubiks cube of possibility topped with laughter.

For Chris Ramsey, comedy is in this blood, a vivid part of his childhood, it is a job, a livelihood, it has proved him with therapy and being on stage is for him the safest place in the world.

Even when he thought he was dying but was having a panic attack (which he did not realise) he wanted to be, needed to be on stage.

Chris said: “Being on stage for me is the safest place.

“I had a panic attack a few weeks ago and I thought I was dying, I thought it had broken my neck. I don’t know if it was stress or what but I was shaking for an hour.

“It meant I was an hour late for the gig in Middlesbrough which was sold out with 1,100 people waiting.

“All I wanted to do was get to the gig. I wanted to be on stage. When I did I went out and told the audience why I was late and I told them everything and made it funny.

“When I told my driver who was taking me to the show I told me I need to go to the show and he said are you mad? I even told the ambulance people and they said we shall see about that.

“If I had not got on stage I would have been home and I would have felt worse.

“When I am at home with my wife and kid I am happiest but when I am on stage I am at my safest.”

While many of you might only just be discovering Chris Ramsey the comedian, he has been doing this job for 10 years.

In the last few years he has appeared on TV hosting The Chris Ramsey Show, and Stand Up Central (Comedy Central) I’m a Celebrity: Extra Camp (ITV2) and Virtually Famous (E4), as well as performing on the Royal Variety Performance (ITV), Live at the Apollo (BBC1) and as a regular on Celebrity Juice (ITV2).

He also starred as Jack in two series of critically-acclaimed sitcom Hebburn (BBC2), co-starring Vic Reeves and more recently alongside his wife Rosie on Married to a Celebrity and Parenting for Idiots (Channel 4).

Talking about when he first saw or heard comedy, Chris said: “I have got a distinct memory of my dad and his friends down the pub. Dad is telling a story and his friends are listening and all laughing.

“I have got a vivid memory of my dad telling me one day I could watch Billy Connolly as he is very funny but I would have to wait until I was older.

“When I was I got to see his Audience with.. and he did the incontinence pants routine and I remember laughing so much and so loud.

“He seemed to be totally making s*** up off the top of his head.When people make it look like that then you know they are good.

“I have never forgot what I felt like as that little boy.

“And when I am on stage the best laugh is not the laughs but it is the silence before the laugh. You are about to tell them the funny bit and they are hanging on your words and then you tell them.”

You can be hanging on Chris’s words as he is out on tour with the Chris Ramsey Live 2018: The Just Happy To Get Out Of The House Tour.

He will be in Somerset as he will be at the Octagon in Yeovil on Tuesday, November 13.

I asked him if he would Chris Ramsey funny, amusing or difficult to live with. He laughed and said: “My wife would say all three. That is why I have to get out of the house.

“When I am working I work hard but when I come home while I enjoy it I am difficult to be around and love to get back out on the road.

“What I do enjoy when I am on stage is the crowd. I would love to do a whole show just talking to the audience but I do not think I have enough bottle to do this.

“I am always blown away by the fact they want to take the time to buy a ticket and come out and see me and be entertained.

“They are screaming and laughing and wanted to pay money to come and see me.”

You took can see Chris Ramsey in his new show called The Just Happy To Get Out Of The House Tour which will be at the Octagon in Yeovil on Tuesday, November 13.

Tickets cost £12 . Buy online at octagon-theatre.co.uk or by calling the box office on 01935 422884