Introducing... Dave Spikey, the Bolton bio-medical scientist who turned to comedy.

Once he was Dave Bramwell, a bio-medical scientist in charge of the haematology department at the Royal Bolton Hospital. Now he is comedy turn Dave Spikey, alias Jerry 'The Saint' Sinclair in Phoenix Nights, and his star has risen so high he has had to add another leg to his year-long Overnight Success Tour. Next Friday, Dave makes his York debut at the city's comedy festival. Charles Hutchinson asks: what's up doc?

Dave, the white hair is a giveaway. You're not being serious with that Overnight Success title, are you?

"Oh, it's firmly tongue in cheek, but then it's a very odd story. I worked for 30 years as a bio-medical scientist, and initially I just dabbled in comedy. I started writing comedy for a hobby.

"My dad was a big influence on that. I grew up listening to comedy, The Goons, Morecambe and Wise, and I used to send material to The Two Ronnies."

What persuaded you to take the plunge and start performing?

"I used to be involved in amateur dramatics. I would direct shows and I remember someone saying, when I made a suggestion, 'Tell you what, you do it yourself', and I thought 'Right, I will do it myself'.

"Though you can get a buzz, as a director, from watching someone else do it, I found I got an even bigger buzz from doing it myself. So I started doing stand-up."

Stand-up comedy? You can live or die in a second, so why did you decide to subject yourself to the slings and arrows of audiences?

"You have to be either totally nave or totally brash, and I was totally nave. You start playing the clubs and you find you're only there to fill the gap between the dominoes and the pies. I was just completely the wrong act for the clubs and if it wasn't for the alternative scene in Manchester, especially The Buzz in Chorlton, who knows what may have happened to me.

"Sadly The Buzz is closing this year but I'm very honoured to be doing the last show there on July 1."

Do you need a thick skin to be a comedian?

"I don't think I have one, but I believe the audience reaction depends upon your stage persona. With me, it must come down to me being relaxed on stage, and so they think twice about heckling because I make the space my own.

"If I get a heckle, I just give them a look, as the thing they crave is a response, and if you just ignore them, people around them will look at them as if to say 'You're a bit of a prat, aren't you', and that leaves me to get on with the show."

Overnight Success may be a tongue-in-cheek title. Nevertheless, your work with Peter Kay, especially in Phoenix Nights, has taken your comedy career to a new level, hasn't it?

"I don't get too wound up by critics' comments, but I know that people are coming to this show because of Phoenix Nights, and so I've had to adapt it because I'm now catering for a mainstream audience.

"If it were a late-night act, it would be different material."

Peter Kay is from Bolton, and so are you. When did your paths first cross?

"Peter, bless him, was always a fan of mine. He started in 1997, I'd started in 1987, and we first met at the North West Comedian of the Year. Steve Coogan had won it, Caroline Aherne had won it, and I'd won it in 1993. Anyway I was compering in 1997, and Johnny Vegas was the favourite. He went on at seven and ripped it apart, but then came more acts and as the night went on everyone was feeling tired... and then, last on, came Peter and he raised the roof. It was an incredible achievement and so he just had to win."

How did you and Peter start working together?

"I got asked to host Chain Letters, a long-running quiz that I sank without trace. I did 40 shows and it hasn't been seen since.

"I needed someone to write my humorous asides with me, and so Peter did that, and we started swapping ideas.

"Out of that came That Peter Kay Thing and then Phoenix Nights."

Do you see your present success as your 'moment', and how have you coped with 'Overnight Success'?

"I was 46-47 when I first got a break, and I'd had no great ambition to be successful, but once you get your opportunity, you have to take it, and because of the groundwork I'd done I could cope.

"When I was breaking through, there was only Dave Gorman and me in the North West, so when Jack Dee, Lee Evans or Eddie Izzard came to play there, I was the comedian who was working locally, so I did the support slots and I learnt a lot from those acts."

Do you miss your hospital work?

"My wife still works in the blood transfusion unit in Bolton, and every day when she comes home I get an hour of earache. She is finishing her job soon. Working for the NHS used to be great, now you do have to have a sense of humour to work in a hospital."

Dave Spikey, Overnight Success Tour, York Comedy Festival, Grand Opera House, York, June 11, 7.30pm. Tickets: £12, 0870 606 3595

Updated: 09:57 Friday, June 04, 2004